A couple of friends of mine began to wonder what would happen
if our spiritual lives and prayers were directly related to acts
of faith. What would happen if praise to our Creator included
donating time to care for creation? What would happen if confession
included actively making amends to the people we
wronged? . . . What would happen if we didn’t just tell friends,
“I’m praying for you” when they were going through a terrible
ordeal, but we actually stopped and gave them something to
relieve the situation? What would happen if Christians invested
as much time into doing the right things as believing the right
things? What would happen if we learned to give a perfect gift?
Our world would probably look much different than it does
now. Perhaps it would look a little more like “Earth as it is in
Heaven” if we actually worked for an Earth that mirrors Heaven.
This is the echoing hope of James. We can give that perfect
gift. We can live that undefiled religion. When we become
frustrated by sitting back with our big ears trying to hear and
say all the things that seem pleasing, then we must roll up
our sleeves and become do-ers. We will need to start dedicating
our time, energy and talents. We probably won’t give any
of it perfectly. There is bound to be some self-interest involved
in our acts. But we must keep trying, because every
good and perfect gift comes from above, and so it is our hope
and our longing to keep giving, to be reflections of the One
who gave us our very lives.

Carol Howard, in Sick, and You Cared for Me
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Carol Howard is a Presbyterian (USA) minister known for serving
growing churches, especially those with a deep commitment to
serving the poor and disenfranchised.