Love day 4

Late last night I was letting the new film ‘Jumper’ push boredom into my human closet. Out of the blue I received a text from michele saying it was urgent I call her back. I did and come to find out that one of our dear friends lost his dad to an unexpected heart attack late last night. As i listened to michele tell me all that happened i found my search for words dissipate, and my memory began to rehearse the loss i experienced almost 3 years ago. I battled against this memory since this moment was not about me (and i hate when people make others pain about them) but about those that i love….. When michele and i ended our call my mind rushed to ‘what should we do’ ‘what can we be’ mode, wanting to imagine the best scenerio of how we can be there for them during this life altering season.

During this mind rant, i found myself rereading these words;

Now when Job’s three friends heard of all these troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his home… They met together to go and console and comfort him. When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their cloths and threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the ground seven days and seven nights. and no one spoke a word to him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.

These words have become a staple in my life; i have learned the power of silence when we seek to console and comfort others, I have witnessed friends come together and set their course to be with those in pain, using dirt and paint these hands have verbalized lament when tragedy strikes the innocent.

I say all this because I want to believe love reshapes suffering, not that it removes the process of pain, but it creates an atmosphere where hope walks in uninvited and sits in human skin. Thoughts?

In closing, i find most sit with those who suffer and the one who has caused the pain sit alone. Maybe human love is incapable?