Fragile

 


            It’s been a rough week. I began the week being heartbroken over the death of someone I hold very dear, he’s been a large presence in my life the last couple decades. I can’t stop thinking and praying for the family he left behind; a beautiful wife and three adoring daughters. It echoes my own experience becoming a widow. They are women of strong faith and I have confidence that their faith will pull them through on their dark days ahead.

            Yet, a word keeps flowing through my thoughts; fragile. (If you’re a fan of “A Christmas Story” you read that as fra-jeee-lay, but that’s beside the point.) When a loved one passes away it is common to feel quite fragile, as though one could shatter into a million pieces at any given moment. I have been contemplating this idea and it occurs to me, we are all fragile. From an outside perspective we appear to have it all together but on the inside we’re afraid, tired, confused, trapped, sad and a multitude of other emotions. You may be a new widow as my friend is or a heartbroken friend, but you may also be the parent trying to make ends meet, or the child frustrated by the math problem or the one person always left out, uninvited. Perhaps you’re the cheerful peacekeeper in your circle or the smart one or the organized one and you are tired of wearing that mantle. Or worse, you’re in an abusive relationship be it from your spouse or from your parent, physical or emotional. Maybe you’re the angry person who lashes out because your fragility is bottled inside you and you can’t bear the thought of someone witnessing your soft side.

            The bottom line is we are ALL fragile. How divine would it be if we treated each other with that fragile perspective? I’m not talking about walking on eggshells around someone rather treating others as fine porcelain, handle with care. Everyone is precious in God’s eyes so they should be precious in our eyes too. It doesn’t take much really, a smile, a kind word, an invitation, appreciation, recognition, affirmation, a hug (when safe to do so), or you can go deeper and share a meal, a walk, a letter, a card, a phone call, anything that says you care about the individual. Family, friend or stranger, every person needs love and each of us possesses the power to share love, we just need a little more practice. I challenge you (and myself) to lead by example, share the love in big and small ways. It will come back to you, it’s the one investment that will always bring great dividends. Maybe I’m being idealistic, but in my eyes, it’s worth a shot. Instead of passing judgement how about passing the love that God has passed to you, it’s meant to be shared.

            Matthew 25: 35-40 “For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick, and you looked after me, I was in prison and you visited me.

            Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you or thirsty and give you something to drink? When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’

            The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’”

 

            Luke 6:38 “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together, and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you.”

 

 

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