A lonely older lady sat crying at the foyer, explaining to the greeter and I about how she no longer felt that she could do anything to help aid the church. She felt that though her heart was there, her body could not keep up and so she felt she could not do anything.
Sometimes, life hits you hard. It slams you down and you feel that nothing you could do you begin to doubt yourself. You feel that any action you do is worthless. You become... useless.
My heart went out to this lady and the greeter and I both hugged her as we talked and listened to what she had to say. It was really sad for me to hear that she was so willing to do so many things yet she felt shackled and unable to do so much. She wanted a way to go out and be a part of the congregation and do something... but her own body prevented her from being able to take hold of that...
Some races, I hit a wall and I can't overcome it. The last race, I was in so much stomach pain that I could not make the full 12 hours and had to drop down to a 6 hour race, and that hurt a lot. I felt useless, all that hard work... worthless.
If the moment we find our purpose is the moment we start living, then the moment we lose our purpose... it must be the moment we start dying. When something happens which causes us to lose our purpose, we begin to feel useless. What we once did is no longer important, and what we can do now is meaningless.
Doubt can be good when one overcomes it, but when it overcomes you, your burden becomes massive. When you see that all your efforts are in vain, that what you do will not bear fruit, the hope seeps out and you're down. You feel as if nothing can bring you up.
But there is hope.
The greeter and I and a few more people came together to lift her up. We encouraged, we motivated. We smiled and we hugged. Her eyes, once wet with tears now were sparkling as her face was smiling.
It's the people around you that God provides that lifts you up when you're down.
A friend is what the heart needs all the time.
-Henry Van Dyke
Usually, in the morning, I am leading Sunday School, but this morning, there just happened to be no teenagers and so I sat and talked with the greeter and this responsibility came up... There is no such thing as coincidence or fate. Just blessings.
We are meant to be a blessing to those around us. A light in the darkness, a helping hand in times of need. We look to help those in need, and be there for them.
Whether it be a race or life, it's the people you let lift you up that gives you the strength to find that hope... and with hope comes faith, and faith, belief, and belief... life.
I talked to her about how she felt and asked her if there was anything she could do, and to that she replied, "Prayer." Her heart was in the right place, her beliefs were in the right place. Despite what was going on, she still loved everyone and had a heart for those around her.
Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.
-I Peter 4:8
Love truly gives meaning, and when there is a family that gives love and continues that, and as Charles Dickens says, "no one is useless in this world who lightens the burden of it to anyone else." The path she chose right now is to pray, to give her heart, to share her story, and though it may not have been the path she originally was on, for now, she's decided to walk this path and live.
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