Last week I wrote about Archbishop Nathan Söderblom. Speaking to the Student Missionary Association in 1904, Söderblom said: “Whoever would help people must possess as the most important condition, alongside profound and sincere love for them, true insight.”  If you want to help somebody, you have to understand them.

Some years ago I worked with a church of another denomination that was assembling Thanksgiving baskets for people in need. It was a good idea, but I detected a problem. I knew the community they were serving was about 20% Hispanic, largely Puerto Rican. Having shared Thanksgiving dinner with Puerto Rican friends, I knew that their traditional dinner would include arroz con gandules (rice with pigeon peas) and dulce de leche (a very sweet custard) rather than mashed potatoes, cranberries, and pumpkin pie. The church making up the baskets was unwilling to consider giving anything except what they considered the proper foods for a Thanksgiving dinner. It was a shame because they could have done a better job if they first sought to understand the people they were trying to help.

It’s easy to be well-intentioned, but get it wrong when one doesn’t try first to understand the person one intends to help. I made all sorts of mistakes trying to help my mother after my father died because I didn’t ask her what she needed and how I could best help her.

While the intention to give aid to people is a noble one, we must understand people and their circumstance to give them what they need.

Read Deuteronomy 15:7-8 and remember: God loves YOU unconditionally.

Wayne