Lessons From the Edge

You don't have to be sturdy to carry a friend.

I have said it before, but I'm going to say it again. And I'm sure this won't be the last time: I love, LOVE the Bible study group I meet with weekly at Edgewood. I LOVE THEM!!!
This week, we looked at Mark 2:1-12. This passage recounts the time when four men brought their paralyzed friend to see Jesus. But the crowd was so great around the house where Jesus was speaking that the men had to take their friend up on the roof, dig a hole in the roof, and lower their friend on his mat down to where Jesus was standing. We read and discussed the text, trying to gain an understanding of what was happening. We talked about the things in our lives which leave us feeling paralyzed - like we can't make any movement to change the situation. And we spent time praying, asking God to help us.

And then...
Then the most beautiful thing happened. We remembered the friends who need us to carry them.
*The one who was in surgery, having cancer removed at the very moment we were meeting.
*One who is in a re-hab facility. Not doing well.
*Another who is facing some struggles we really don't know about.
*And a sweet couple who is living with the challenges of life-after-a-stroke. Where one cannot communicate, and the other is trying desperately to understand.
And although I sat there with my eyes closed and I couldn't see anyone, I heard the voices of men and women praying earnestly for one another. I sat in a room full of men and women who often have trouble walking, whose arthritis sometimes leaves their hands un-usable, and many of whom cannot safely pick up something weighing more than five pounds. And I witnessed them - together - carrying four of their friends on a mat to Jesus.
It still makes me smile to think about that fellowship. That community. Where I realized we (I count myself among them, even though I don't live at Edgewood.) are more than just a community of people who live in the same building. We are a community of Believers who have the opportunity and responsibility to carry one another to Jesus.
And as I gazed at the walkers, and canes, and wheelchairs around the room, I realized another important lesson: You don't have to be sturdy to carry a friend.

Disclaimer: The ideas and opinions expressed in this post are my own, and may not necessarily reflect those of Vista Springs Living Centers.