What would it look like?

Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted.

Matthew 5: 4

This was the title of our sermon last weekend.  I was so happy that this lesson was being taught.  It's not a common lesson.  There are many people that have not learned it.  It's a lesson that I learned the hard way.

When someone is hurting

       RUN TO them

                      NOT FROM them

We spent so much of our first year mourning by ourselves.  It made a difficult process almost impossible.  People didn't want to be with us.  We were sad.  We were broken.  Why be with people like that when you can be with people that make you laugh and feel good about yourself?  I suppose that in our society, it's natural to be drawn to the good.  We found that it was only truly exceptional people that were willing and able to be our friends while we were stuck in our pit of grief. 

This past week I have been wondering what our world would look like if people would naturally flock to those who were hurting.  Not only to those that are physically hurting from disease but to those that are in true emotional pain. 

• 
  
  What would it look like if we chose to spend our time sending a kind email to a hurting friend instead of watching a funny clip on UTube? 
• 
  
• 
  
  What would it look like if we picked up the phone and called a hurting friend instead of spending 10 minutes waiting in line at Starbucks for a coffee? 
• 
  
• 
  
  What would it look like if every time we went to the grocery store we picked up a "I'm thinking about you" card instead of spending that money on a some sort of fattening, processed junk food item? 
• 
  
• 
  
  What would it look like if once a month we invited our hurting friends over for dinner instead of calling our "fun" friends to hang out?
• 
  
• 
  
  What would it look like if we presented ourselves with authenticity and honesty instead of falsely and superficially so that we were easier to relate to?
• 
  
• 
  
  What would it look like if we spent an hour sitting on the couch wiping the tears of a hurting friend instead of watching a reality TV show?

• 
  
  What would it look like if we made cookies for a stranger in pain and left them on their door with a sweet note instead of eating them ourselves?

We all feel confined by a lack of time and resources.  People often say if I had more time, I would help others.  Or, if I had more money, I would do something nice for someone.  The truth is that for the most part, we spend our time and money on things that are important to us.  I hope that someday, we will consider the hurting to be important.

Ecclesiasties 7:2

Its is better to go to a house of mourning than to go to a house of feasting, for death is the destiny of every man; the living should take this to heart.