Ordinary Time

Pause

It is the nature of God to Care.

The Creator of the universe invests in our lives through direct intervention and through the care of others.

Sometimes we just need to have eyes to capture the vision, ears to catch the rhythm, and a heart to respond to God’s call.

Listen

A little later Jesus went to a city called Nain. His disciples and a great crowd traveled with him. As he approached the city gate, a dead man was being carried out. He was his mother’s only son, and she was a widow. A large crowd from the city was with her.

Luke 7:11-12

Think

I have a young friend whose dad died unexpectedly a few months ago. She is a bright, articulate and compassionate young woman who offers care to so many around her. However, it was her dad who was the person who offered support and unconditional love to her. He showed up when she needed him and did so with love and quiet kindness. Her internal grief and pain is hard for most people to see, but it is a constant in her life. We have talked and sent emails regularly since his passing, but there are no magic words to say to someone in that kind of agony.

If there’s one thing I’ve learned in life, it is that sometimes it’s better to just sit with someone and say nothing, than to say something that isn’t true and doesn’t help. The ministry of just being there in the presence of great sadness is very hard when we want to fix something, but sometimes it is what is needed and how we are called to care.

Wanda Kidd

Pray

Oh God, who stands with me in my greatest pain and suffering, thank you for your love that sustains me and for the hope that I will survive. Amen.

Go

Care is an engaging word. If we care, then we are compelled to respond to the needs we see around us. Sometimes it requires action, sometimes it simply calls for our presence, but it always propels us to see the world with Christ-like compassion and grace.

Remember today: we do not always know what someone is going through.