Holding on Together
I’ve heard it said that Sunday, the Sabbath Day of worship within the Christian community, is the loneliest day of the week. While churches gather to worship, individuals not able to participate or who live along the margins of society feel their isolation all the more intensely on this day. They may not even be church-attending people, but the sense of not belonging and being alone while others are gathering can produce deep feelings of sorrow.
~ Today, in this season of pandemic living, let us remember the loneliness that accompanies isolation. Let’s reach out to provide connection and care, particularly for the vulnerable among us. We too, can live by the military motto...leave no one behind, no one forgotten.
As we enter this Thanksgiving week in a world that is tightening up and closing down again, feelings of discouragement are on the rise. As families are told to stay home and keep their gatherings small, some individuals will spend Thanksgiving day alone.
~ May we have eyes that see the myriad moments to cherish and hold onto within each day. We will need each other’s help to develop this gratitude kind of vision. Where every inhale and exhale is a reminder to celebrate the gift of life and give thanks to the Giver of life. A steady rhythm of gratitude—in the midst of so much hard.
While we rejoice in the approaching holiday season—it is also daunting. In 2020, the holidays have arrived within a context of anxiety, stress, and loss. The foundation of our world has been rocked. Surely, the month ahead will require emotional fortitude. We will need to rally around each other. Have no doubt, behind the picture perfect smiles of family holiday photographs and dazzling homes decked out in Christmas decor, there will be an abundance of insecurity, worry, and sadness.
~ Oh, how we need each other. Let us comfort and find ways to bring good cheer to the person who has lost their job, or their business, their health, their internal balance, or is grieving the loss of a loved one. Instead of focusing on the compliance of mask wearing, let’s see—really see—the person behind the mask and how they are faring in these uncertain days.
~ Let’s especially remember our elderly who have been hit so hard by this virus, directly through infection and indirectly through isolation. Their loneliness will intensify in the month ahead. While we advocate for excellent physical care, equally important is the emotional and social well-being that every person of every age requires. May it never be said...out of sight, out of mind. Let our seniors be ever on our minds and in our hearts as we find ways to provide connection and dignity of life.
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Let us remember. Remember the needs of all people. And in our remembering, actively search for ways to extend love and grace and kindness. Tangible, practical expressions of our care that will maximize joy in the lives of those we encounter. Like playing the child’s game ding-dong-ditch, but with no dinging and no ditching 😊...only the spontaneous (or well-planned) delivery of a simple, enduring, loving gift of kindness from one human heart to another.
Joy bringers. Could that be us?
Oh, I think so. Let’s bring it on. 💕
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The Lord is close to the brokenhearted; He rescues those whose spirits are crushed. Psalms 34:18
And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works. Hebrews 10:24