Suffering is meant to be shared.

I listened to a Trinity Forum conversation, Suffering, Healing, and Meaning, with Philip Yancey and Julia Wattacheril. At one point Philip Yancey said,

Suffering is meant to be shared and that is something the church can do: Take care of the dog, the housework, meals, the children, and so on. Then the body is freed to heal.

That struck me. Often I feel inadequate in my helping. I feel like I can’t do enough. But one thing I do often is make meals. I am glad to hear that small act elevated somewhat — it’s not just making a meal, it’s sharing someone’s suffering and allowing them to heal. I think, too, of how many others in our church do that. I heard a while ago about one of our church women who regularly made large pots of soup and dropped off containers of soup to our elderly members. Whenever we put the word out about the need for meals, our church family is generous in their response. It’s a beautiful thing.

I was reminded of how important it was to me when my church family brought my family meals. When I was pregnant with our youngest child, I started bleeding at around 12 weeks, exactly the time when I had miscarried in a previous pregnancy. The women at church organized to bring dinner to our house 3 times a week. As the years went on (my son is over 30 now), when I got frustrated or hurt by church family members, I often remembered that time when they fed my family. It reminded me of their love, a reflection of God’s love.