"Ye are the salt of the earth..."

As a follow up to the previous post I wanted to also touch on the role each of us has to play in alleviating the suffering of God's children in this world. Continuing with the Sermon on the Mount, that was quoted previously, the Lord also lets us know of our responsibility as Christians:

"Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the slat have lost his savour, wherewith shall the earth be salted?" (Matthew 5:13)
This verse, as well as the others that follow it, can have multiple implications. One is that it is our responsibility as followers of Christ to share his gospel with others. If we do not share the testimony that is ours (the salt) then how can the rest of the world come to know of Christ? Another implication, which is what I wish to focus on here, is that it is our responsibility also to be the Lord's hands in helping others. If he wanted to the Lord could relieve every pain, stop all war, and bring peace to the world in one blink of the eye. However this is not his plan nor the purpose for which he sent us here. We are his servants who fulfill his plans for the world. Through us he works his miracles and spreads his message. Therefore, through us he also brings peace and care to those who suffer around the world. If we do not seek to take part in this work, then how can those who suffer expect to find relief?
Jesus goes on to teach, in his sermon, about our responsibility in helping each other:'

"Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle and put it under a bushel, bit on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven" (Matthew 5: 14-16)

Again, there are missionary implications here, but one cannot deny that the Lord is also saying that those who are blessed with faith, hope and love are responsible to share that with others. What is the point of having tons of money if you never use it to help others? What is the point of being happy if no one else can share it with you? What is the point of finding peace and comfort in your living conditions if you do not seek to help improve those of others? The point is that it is our duty to serve others. It is our duty to help others, not only our neighbors, but more importantly those around the world whose neighbors cannot offer the relief they need. For those, like us here in the U.S., who live in a nation blessed with freedom and stability and security of life, we should seek to help others who do not enjoy those same blessings. This can be done in so many ways and does not mean that we have to leave everything we have and all our comforts to go travel the world (although wouldn't that be great!). We can help in so many ways: donating to humanitarian causes and churches, being aware of what is going on in the world (first and foremost), taking advantage of opportunities to visit other countries for brief periods of time to help provide service (building houses, distributing food and supplies, training locals on health, medicine and science, etc.)

Even doing all this, one still cannot help but feel overwhelmed by the immense amount of people that need help around the world and the inability to fix everything. This can lead to feelings like, "What difference can I really make then?" "Does one person like me really change anything?" "I am just me, my efforts won't make that big of a difference, so I'll just let the humanitarians out there who are already doing it keep on doing it." To these feelings I offer this short and well-known anecdote (given from memory and may vary slightly from other versions):

There was a boy who went out one morning for a walk on the beach and was shocked to see that the terrible storm the night before had washed up thousands of clams onto the shore. The boy felt compelled to save the clams. Immediately the boy began to pick up one clam at-a-time and toss it back into the sea. Undaunted by the immensity of the task he kept on, tossing one clam back into the sea, then another, then another. After some time in this labor the boy was only making a minute dent in the population of stranded clams. About this time the boy's father came looking for him, only to find his son engaged in what seemed to him (the father) as a pointless effort. He approached his son and asked, "Son, what are you doing? It doesn't matter how hard you try, you can't save them all" The boy simply picked up another clam, turned to his father and said, "It matters to this one," and then tossed it back into the sea.

We cannot hope to provide relief to every soul that suffers on this earth. However if we can change the life of ONE person, it makes all the difference in the world. We have to see each individual as God sees them: important, invaluable and loved (see Doctrine and Covenants 18:10). When we understand God's love for his children we will then understand, as the boy in the story, that helping even just one person makes a difference and is a honorable and glorious thing.

Through the prophet Joseph Smith the Lord has commanded us to "succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees" (Doctrine and Covenants 81:5). May we all seek to follow the Lord's counsel in ancient and modern times to seek out those who suffer and help provide the relief and love they need.