The least I could do

The other day I had thanked someone, and their reply was

"It's the least I could do!"

And I thought...

I know what they MEAN by that,
I know it's just a phrase,
but do we realize what those words actually imply?

This was the absolute LEAST I could do.
I could do more... but I didn't.
That's all you are worth to me.
The LEAST thing I could POSSIBLY do for you.

This got me thinking.

How many times have we done this?

The LEAST we could do?

What exactly IS the LEAST I can do?

• Throw a $10 bill in the plate at church?

• Listen to a friend or neighbor pour her heart out and then offer a simple, "I'll pray for you." 

• Look at the tremendous need for adoptive families and say "oh, those poor little souls. More people should adopt children."

Maybe doing the "least we can do" just keeps us safe.

We don't get any of their junk on us if we keep a safe distance.

We don't get all uncomfortable in someone else's mess if we toss out a quick "I'll pray for you!" and then walk away. 

We don't lose our normal, happy lives when we brush off our sympathies for the poor, orphaned, sick or widowed with that head-tilt-tsk-tsk.

So, what's the least I can do? I have so much on my heart from our days in Ethiopia.

I have so many more children in my head, haunting my dreams and asking... 

what's the least you can do?

Can we do more?

Can our family do more?

I don't know.

I don't know what more we are supposed to do, or what the thoughts and ideas in my head are pointing towards...

but I know this...

doing nothing - well, THAT is the LEAST I can do.