{"id":6486,"date":"2020-01-20T21:49:55","date_gmt":"2020-01-20T21:49:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/?p=6486"},"modified":"2020-01-20T21:52:25","modified_gmt":"2020-01-20T21:52:25","slug":"how-to-effortlessly-make-a-difference-in-your-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2020\/01\/how-to-effortlessly-make-a-difference-in-your-community.html","title":{"rendered":"How to Effortlessly Make a Difference in Your Community"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s cold here in the Northeast and the wind is kicking it up a notch.<\/p>\n<p><em>Needless to say, I might have grumbled a bit while walking my two labradors.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>Hazel and Phyllis seemed oblivious to the cold and found it energizing. My two furry beasts as motivated and I was unmotivated by it. Despite this, I may have cut our walk a bit shorter than usual. After all, who doesn&#8217;t hate the wind? And I still had to grab a quick lunch.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/374\/2020\/01\/hands-heart-love-305530.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-6501 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/374\/2020\/01\/hands-heart-love-305530-273x350.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"234\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><em>I walked across the street.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Inside the Potbelly Sandwich Shop sat a homeless man.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I looked at him with embarrassment. As if there were emotional transparency between us. Yet, he couldn&#8217;t possibly know just minutes before I had cursed the momentary arctic freeze.<\/p>\n<p><strong>My earlier grumblings were squarely put into perspective.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I asked the people behind the counter if I could buy the man a sandwich? They told me he generally ate chili so I purchased him a bowl. As I left the restaurant, I saw them deliver it to his table.<\/p>\n<p><em>It didn&#8217;t seem as cold on the walk back to my place.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>From my new perspective, I only had to endure it for a short time, not his long haul.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>There is always someone in a situation worse than ours.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>The problem is we can&#8217;t always see them.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>My uncle the priest once told me to look in my own backyard to do good.<\/p>\n<p>I had spoken to him of grandiose visions of traveling into the city to help in soup kitchens.<\/p>\n<p><em>&#8220;Colleen,&#8221; he said. &#8220;Be charitable in your own community because you will be able to sustain it.&#8221;\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>What did my uncle mean? Giving on a big scale or around the holidays is wonderful but it can be fleeting. But if you do it where you live it can be more accessible and plentiful. You&#8217;re own spiritual playground. A kitchen you can show up to several times a month rather than every six months.<\/p>\n<p><em>Of course, he didn&#8217;t mean I shouldn&#8217;t contribute around the holidays or in larger ways or in smaller ways to far away charities.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>He was simply teaching me opportunities to live outside our own four walls present themselves every single day.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em>My world might be cold but my neighbors could be even colder.<\/em><\/p>\n<p>And that I would find this type of generosity too effortless to miss.<\/p>\n<p><strong>I&#8217;m also contributing pieces on Family Today visit my Facebook Page below to read them.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/colleenorme\/\"><strong>Follow me on Instagram @colleenorme\u00a0<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/colleensheehyorme\/\"><strong>Facebook @Colleen Orme National Columnist<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/medium.com\/@ColleenOrme\">On Medium @ColleenOrme<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>#WomanResurrected<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>(Photo by ATC Comm Photo on Pexels)<\/p>\n<p>Twitter @colleenorme<\/p>\n<p>E-mail: Colleen.Sheehy.Orme@gmail.com<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>It&#8217;s cold here in the Northeast and the wind is kicking it up a notch. Needless to say, I might have grumbled a bit while walking my two labradors. Hazel and Phyllis seemed oblivious to the cold and found it energizing. My two furry beasts as motivated and I was unmotivated by it. Despite this,&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[341,9],"tags":[396,207,128,231],"class_list":["post-6486","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-christianity","category-spirituality","tag-charity","tag-christianity","tag-generosity","tag-spirituality"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Effortlessly Make a Difference in Your Community - How Great Thou Part<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, nofollow\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Effortlessly Make a Difference in Your Community - How Great Thou Part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"It&#8217;s cold here in the Northeast and the wind is kicking it up a notch. Needless to say, I might have grumbled a bit while walking my two labradors. Hazel and Phyllis seemed oblivious to the cold and found it energizing. My two furry beasts as motivated and I was unmotivated by it. Despite this,&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/howgreatthoupart\/2020\/01\/how-to-effortlessly-make-a-difference-in-your-community.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"How Great Thou Part\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-01-20T21:49:55+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-01-20T21:52:25+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/374\/2020\/01\/hands-heart-love-305530-273x350.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Colleen Sheehy Orme\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Effortlessly Make a Difference in Your Community - How Great Thou Part","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"nofollow"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Effortlessly Make a Difference in Your Community - How Great Thou Part","og_description":"It&#8217;s cold here in the Northeast and the wind is kicking it up a notch. Needless to say, I might have grumbled a bit while walking my two labradors. Hazel and Phyllis seemed oblivious to the cold and found it energizing. My two furry beasts as motivated and I was unmotivated by it. 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