Friday, August 21, 2009

In the middle..

Today there are many people that I care so much for that are on top of the world.

They have experience miracles in their lives.
They have fought battles and won.
They have seen their dreams and wishes come true.
They have planned and struggled and waited.
For so many of them their waiting has ended.

They are in that place, different for each person, but yet the same.

In college...in love...pregnant...healthy...home...gone...free...taken..

I have been there with many of them, watched them dream and struggle.
I have held their hands, assured them it would be OK..even when I wasn't sure it would be.
For them, my joy and happiness is genuine. It isn't forced or fake.

They are on top of the world, I just wish I could stand there with them.


For others in my life, today they are at their lowest.

In 20 minutes a family that I know will say goodbye for the last time to their mom who died on Monday after battling cancer for three years. A little eight year old girl that will stand there, her 12 year old brother and older sisters will try to make her understand something that defies explanation.

Others are sick. Their physical body is failing them. They have wished and hoped and prayed for healing. It has not come.

Others are heart broken, they have trusted people and been let down. There are people in their lives who have taken things from them that can't be returned. They have watched their families be destroyed by the other woman. They feel like it will never be better, the pain will never get better. I want to tell them that it will, but sometimes I am not convinced myself.

They are in that place, different for each person, but still the same.

Sick...lonely...hurt...heart broken...tired...ashamed...guilty...addicted...

Today, they are at their lowest. My concern and care for them is real. My desire for them to rise up, to find peace, is genuine. I want to be there for them, and yet I never want to be to the point where I stand next to them.

Two total extremes, the best and the worst.

I guess what I am struggling with the most right now is how to exist in the middle.

1 comment:

Andy Lauer said...

Isn't that the essence of the Incarnation--God entering the fray of our existence, and by His presence bringing hope to those who need it and rejoicing with the victors? We're called to the same ministry.

Thanks for the vivid, visceral picture.