Life is a combination of extreme joys and acute sorrows. On Saturday morning, Michelle and I attended the wedding of a good friend of ours. It was a wonderful ceremony full of good worship, genuine laughter and tears of joy. From there, we went and visited my dad in the hospital. His body is racked with pain. There is weariness in his eyes. My mom looked tired and worn down.
The scriptures tell us to “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (Romans 12.15). That is easy to do when you are involved in the lives of those who are rejoicing or who are weeping. It comes as naturally as the next exhalation from our lungs.
I went through those extremes this weekend. But if I would have stood up at Charles and Lisa’s wedding and told everyone about my dad and, that they should stop rejoicing, they would have had every right to bodily throw me from the church. And if I stood in the hospital room and ignored the pain in front of my eyes and only spoke of the ceremony earlier, my parents would wonder if I was smokin’ wacky tobacky again. But we learn so much in each situation we face. Let’s pray for open eyes and ears to hear the laughter and the stifled cries of those around us.
Let us love them with the love that we receive from our Lord.
Let’s live this life together.