There are other big days which do not affect nearly as many. For those who are touched, however,
they are just as big. They may only influence a
community, or even just a small group of friends, but the impact of the day for
those people is as significant as any big day we all remember.
I have had the great privilege of being part of many
communities and groups of friends that have existed at the same time and often
over lapped one another. Today was a big
day for one of those communities.
It started when I got a call from a friend who was heading
to the hospital with his siblings. They were
going to have to make some significant decisions regarding the care of their
mother who had suffered a massive heart attack.
Together, they decided that the compassionate thing to do was to create
the space to allow her body to take its natural course. A few hours later I received a call that she
had quickly passed from this life to the next.
She was relieved of her pain and partook of the ultimate healing, but
that does not erase the loss that he and his family now face. It is a big day.
Not long after this, I got an email from another one of the pillars
of this little community. He happens to
be the youngest of us all. Though the
message had lots of words in it, one word stood out, cancer. He had just received the news from his
doctor, and was reaching out to us. The shock had not even had time to wear off when he turned to us and asked us to pray. One phone call, one email, adds up to a big
day.
A little later in the day, a woman connected to this
community sent us a text also asking for prayer.
She had an interview at five. It
is for a job that she is really interested in, but more importantly getting it would
allow her to transition out of a place of employment that has been a hard situation in which
to work. We of course said we would
pray, but we have yet to hear how the interview went. For her so much hangs in the balance of this
decision. It could spring her to what
would feel like new life, or it could mean another season of being faithful in
a hard place. We do not know the outcome
of the interview, but we do know it is a big day.
I retreated to my back yard.
In the mindless maintenance which takes place there, I can ponder and
pray. My hands were cleaning and fixing,
but my spirit was focused on the big day that had just taken place. As I prayed and contemplated what was happening in the lives of this small group of friends, I found my heart turning to
thankfulness.
How wonderful it was to pray for them, to know there are people who are ready and eager to stand in the gap for one
another. They are ready to cut the
weight of grief in half by sharing its load.
They are there to pick a brother up when he is knocked down. They are there to hope with you for the things
your heart longs for. In short, a group of people you belong to where your big
day also becomes theirs.
I was alone in the back yard, but I could not have not felt any
more connected to these people. As I
turned to each one in prayer my heart felt their loss, their fear, and their
hope. Their trials and anticipations
became mine as well. This was a privilege. The reality of it moved my heart from
thankfulness to joy.
It is pure joy to be connected to people at this level,
where your days are intertwined and you share life in all its hardship and
glory. It is not a joy that overlooks
the loss, fear or anticipation, but one that grown out of the truth you are part of
a community which willingly shares these big days, as well as all the little days in
between them.
As I held the hose in the back yard, watching the water pour
out of it and soak into the lawn the events of the day, the thankfulness I felt
in the connection of our lives, and the joy that came from the depth of our
relationships poured into my soul and saturated it with love. A warmth grew over me. Maybe it was the result of holding my
friends. Maybe it was a byproduct of
prayer. More than likely it was simply the result
of experiencing what we were designed to know, the unity of love that binds us
together and enables us to absorb as one what this big day, or any other, has
to hold.
Two are better than one because they have a
good return for their labor. For if either of them falls, the one will lift up his
companion. But woe to the one who falls
when there is not another to lift him up. Furthermore,
if two lie down together they keep warm, but how can one be warm alone?
And if [one
can overpower him who is alone, two can resist him. A cord of three strands
is not quickly torn apart. (Ecc. 4:9-12)
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for
adversity. (Proverbs 17:17)
Bear one another’s burdens, and thereby
fulfill the law of Christ. (Galatians 6:2)
When shared with a friend, joy is doubled,
sorrow is halved.
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