When the suffering is silent

It’sso easy to overlook what others are going through.

Ihad a conversation with someone recently who has a relative in the public eye.Folks are so awestruck with the relative and her contacts, they forget that therelative suffers on a daily and even hourly basis.

Whenanyone deals with a chronic or ongoing disability, it’s easy to forget whattheir life is like. We move on, and we think they have. But they haven’t. Andbarring a miracle, perhaps never will. And often, they never say a word abouttheir circumstances.

Inmany ways, it’s like grief after a loss. We move out into the world hurting,and yet, the world can’t see and sometimes doesn’t care to see. The world pressesahead. So, we carry the hurt—an invisible wound—and do the best we can.

But,oh, what a blessing it is when someone takes a moment to say in a genuine way, “Howare you, really?” And not just looking for a quick “I’m fine.”

Ittakes a willingness to step into the suffering of another—to bear the burden.

Paulsaid it, “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way, you will fulfill the lawof Christ” (Galatians 6:2). When we risk carrying another’s burdens, it’s notabout being a nice guy, it’s about fulfilling the law of Christ.

Asmy recent experience has reminded me, it could just as well be any of us in the difficultcircumstance. And it only takes a moment in time for our situation to bechanged.

So,let us all be challenged to stop in our busyness, which often is nothing morethan a distraction, look around, and reach out to those who may be suffering silently.

Theywill be blessed, and so will you.

var _gaq = _gaq || []; _gaq.push(['_setAccount', 'UA-24260977-1']); _gaq.push(['_trackPageview']); (function() { var ga = document.createElement('script'); ga.type = 'text/javascript'; ga.async = true; ga.src = ('https:' == document.location.protocol ? 'https://ssl' : 'http://www') + '.google-analytics.com/ga.js'; var s = document.getElementsByTagName('script')[0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore(ga, s); })();Beverly Varnado's most recent book is In Search of the Painted Bunting, a middle grade historical from Elk Lake Publishing, #1 in new releases in its category. She is also the author of several small town romances from Anaiah Press including her latest, A Season for Everything. All are available at Amazon. To explore the web version of One Ringing Bell, please visit bev-oneringingbell.blogspot.comTo sign up for her newsletter, go to http://eepurl.com/dHNdsX Beverly Varnado copyright 2023