Becoming "Other" Centered
By Patti Chadwick
www.historyswomen.com
patti@historyswomen.com

"Remember the Lord's people who are in jail and be concerned for them. Don't forget those who are suffering but imagine that you are there with them." Hebrews 13:3 CEV

Life is busy. We live in an extremely fast-paced society that constantly screams at us to hurry along to go on to the next thing that needs to be done. We don't take a lot of time to reflect on our own lives, let alone have time to think about the situation of others.

Is living in this kind of "hecticity" good for us or does it cause us to be self-centered? Do we get so caught up living our own lives and trying to meet the needs of our own families that we don't have the time or the energy to look outside ourselves to realize or even care about what others are going through?

There are many hurting people in the world. People who are struggling to make ends meet. Families that are falling apart.
Associates who are suffering for a loved one's mistakes. Those who are sick and/or dying. People who suffer for their faith. Have you ever seriously thought about what you can do to help? We need to be able to look past our own circumstances and determine what we can do for others. We need to learn to have a broader view of life than what is happening in our own backyard.

Elizabeth of Hungary is a fine example of a woman who cared deeply about the needs of others. She was a Hungarian princess and
philanthropist of the thirteenth century who was concerned for the relief of the poor and sick. With consent of her husband she used her dowry money to aid the needy in her land.

Elizabeth was born at Presburg in 1207 the daughter of Andreas II, king of Hungary. At the age of four she was affianced to the Landgraf of Thuringia, Louis IV, who was himself an infant. She was then brought to his court in the Wartburg, near Eisenach, to be educated under the watchful eyes of her future parents-in-law. She early displayed a passion for the severities of the Christian life and as she grew in age, she also grew in piety. She hated pomp and ambition, cultivated humility, and exhibited much self-denying benevolence. Her conduct, even as a girl, amazed the Thuringian court.

When she was but fourteen years old, her marriage to Louis IV took place and together they had three children. In spite of her position at court, Elizabeth began to lead a simple life and devoted herself to works of charity. Louis admired Elizabeth for her long prayers and ceaseless almsgiving, for he himself was attracted to this mode of life. He was inclined to religion and encouraged her in her exemplary life. It was he who encouraged her to use her dowry money for the relief of the poor and the sick. In 1226, while Louis was away in Italy, Elizabeth sold her jewels and established a hospital at the foot of her castle where she nursed the sick herself and opened the royal granaries to feed the hungry, knowing she would have her husband's approval. Great misfortunes soon befell the saintly Elizabeth. In 1227 tragedy first struck with the death of Louis while fighting with the Crusaders. After the death of her husband, Louis's brother deprived Elizabeth of her regency and she was expelled from her home at Wartburg on the grounds that she wasted the treasure of the state by her extravagant giving to charities. She at last found refuge in the church, where her first care was to thank God that he had judged her worthy to suffer. She became a Franciscan tertiary and devoted the remainder of her life to nursing and charity and ascetic living. She put on a nun's raiment and took up her residence in a cottage at the foot of the hill on which stood her castle of Marburg, giving her life to ceaseless devotions, almsgiving, and mortifications. All her revenues were given to the poor and what she required for personal expenditures for herself and her three children she earned with her own hands.

People need people. God has made us that way. And there is no greater joy than the joy found in helping our fellow man. Take a look around you. Do you see anyone who needs an encouraging word? Do you see anyone who needs someone to care about the pain they are in? You won't have to look far. Take the time today to actually SEE those around you. And then determine what you can do to help.

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For more Life Lessons for Women or to learn more about Elizabeth of Hungary visit our website at: www.HistorysWomen.com