I feel like the world has been falling apart this week. I am doing fine, but there are so many people going through crises around me that I don't even know what to do with it.
There's one dear lady at work whose husband died unexpectedly a month ago, and she's back at work now but with so much pain still carried with her. She and her two children are having a really hard time coping with the grief--and I can't even imagine how much it must hurt to unexpectedly lose your best friends of decades.
One of our volunteers was in our office yesterday morning helping with data entry when she got a call that her mother-in-law had just died. Poor thing. So she of course left right away to go cope with that, but not before tearing up and crying at her desk.
Then there's the sister of one of my Servant Partners' friends who got into a really bad go-cart accident and her foot was totally shredded. The doctors are doing what they can, but it's not healing too well at the moment, and it's pretty black from lack of oxygen.
Then there's a kid, who's a friend of a friend, who was shot three times in the back in front of his church in Monrovia by a car of gang members. He's in the hospital in critical condition and they are praying that his spine and internal organs are ok.
Finally, another friend, who I know through both Servant Partners and work, is currently trying to help a couple women and one of the daughters in her neighborhood get out of a really messy abusive situation, as the women are ready to leave, but because of the details of this particular situation, they either aren't eligible for government/shelter housing (did you know that there are no transitional stay abuse shelters close to the Pasadena/Lincoln Heights area who accept a girl of twelve along with her mother? you have to be under 9. wtf? what happens to abused teenagers?), or the options that they are eligable for will take months to two years to come through. It's so unbelievable that I don't even know what to think. So my friend's been making calls and talking to different government people, but she's so frustrated. They've opened their own home up as a short-term solution, but that won't work for long. And between the three salaries of the women who need a place to stay, they can't even afford to rent a place of their own even IN their low-income neighborhood.
So all that's been on my mind, including a couple recent rapes and a robbery in the south L.A. neighborhood area. Sometimes all of the darkness of this world just seems to explode out of control. I'm praying but I feel so overwhelmed.
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I don't know what to say after reading all that darkness. Life just seems to get more and more complicated as we grow up. I only wanted to let you know that my thoughts are with you :)
Yes, there is a lot of darkness and a lot of pain around us. It helps to look for the points of love, light and healing--and to let love, light and healing flow from us to others when we can. I think it also helps to remember that the Light triumphs in the end. As John put it (Message version), "The Life-Light blazed out of the darkness; the darkness couldn't put it out." Scripture doesn't downplay the darkness, but it does tell us that the decisive battle over darkness has been won by Christ in his death and resurrection. There is Light "at the end of the tunnel."
And in the meantime, the Light, Jesus is with us--Immanuel--With us in the darkness, in the pain, in the crud that life sometimes offers. And none of that crud can ever separate us from God's love.
Look for the light: the people who DO care and want to help, the friends who come alongside the grieving, who provide shelter, who serve as advocates with government agencies, who try to make a difference in the midst of the darkness...
You, dear Jenny, are a bearer of the light. You are sent to bring light into the darkness. May God's Spirit so fill your heart that your words and actions would bring light,life, hope and encouragement to the hurting people you encounter.
May the Lord bless you and protect you. May the Lord smile on you and be gracious to you. May the Lord show you his favor and give you his peace.
"Lead me to rest sweet Lord, lead me to rest. From my journey here, lead me to rest. The relief I've found, from the burdens that have weighed me down, lead me to rest, lead me to rest."
Though these people are going through a lot, it will be a comfort to have you near and they will know you are there. You have always been a comfort to me. All you can do is just be loving and support them. If you get caught up in it too much, you won't be able to help anyone. I will pray for them as I pray for you.
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