Reach

I got a call this week...one of those calls that you never want to get.  It was from someone from my former church.  It was bad news.  A dear friend's brother had a tragic accident at home and died.  It was like a punch in the gut.

I think that I'm still on high alert emotionally due to all the stuff that we've been going thru in the past 6 weeks, because I just lost it.  I didn't know this guy personally, but I knew his sister pretty well, and it just caught me off guard.  I wept.

I cried because I don't like death to begin with...it's so final.  I know all about the 'they're in a better place' stuff, but death means that it's over for them here on earth.  No second chances, do-overs or video re-play.  Game over.

I also cried because I hurt for my friend.  She's awesome and she has a great family.  This was something that she didn't need right now.  Of course, death is usually something that we don't need.

As I was thinking about it, I also figured out that I was crying because I wasn't there to offer comfort and pastoral care.  Now, I know that this is selfish, but I'm just being honest with you.  For the past 12 years, when those types of telephone calls came in, I grabbed my bible, ran out the door and blazed to the house or the hospital to offer whatever support I could.  Now--have to operate from an arm's length.  And it's a bummer.

I wanted to be there this week, but all that I could do was pray.  I hope that was enough.  We tell people all the time that it is, but I just wonder sometimes.

You know, Jesus didn't just pray for people who were hurting.  He prayed, of course, but he always matched that up with an action step.  He either physically met their need, or he facilitated something to be done about it.

I know that I'm not Jesus, and neither are you, and we can't heal people, or mass produce feeding frenzies for thousands of hungry people, but I'm thinking that there's SOMETHING that you can do about someone who is hurting today.

Maybe you can donate blood, or buy someone a cup of coffee, or just call someone that you know is struggling and let them know that you care.  You could get a few friends together and clean up someone's house, or offer to mow their grass, or take their kid to Dairy Queen for an hour while they collect their sanity.

I hope you're praying...but you need to match that with doing something too.

So, I called my friend last week and told her that I was sorry, and that I wish that there was something that I could do for her--she said that I already did by just calling.  That made me feel like I helped...even if it was from arm's length.