| I have a great deal of difficulty in bearing others' burdens, at least
physically speaking. I'd like to do more - I *really* would - but I'm
constrained.
I have to find other ways to lessen the burden of others.
In reflection, I suspect this may be part of why I became a hospital chaplain
a few years back. I couldn't take away the pains of the body, but I could
help share the pain of the heart and soul. And hospitals, after all, are
supposed to be conducive to wheelchair accessibility (though this is not
always so, I learned).
On occasion I've also tried to ease the financial burden of another by
giving monetarily.
I remember many years ago, when my household was suffering from the lack of
a source of income, a nearby United Methodist church got wind of our situation
and provided us with groceries - *lots* of groceries, and shoes and coats for
every member of the family. They never asked anything of us in return.
Peace,
Richard
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Richard,
Some thoughts. First off I do my best to bear my burdens with
grace, if only so no one else has to.
In real life terms having an accessable personality can ease another
burden. It is that approachability that make is easier for others
overburdend to ask for help.
Offering choices, or helping others to see possible choices
but not make anothers choice is helping thier burden.
Some are best described as being onself for others to follow if they
so choose.
Peace,
Allison
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| Allison,
Let me give you something to ponder.
Many, perhaps even most people, try to carry their burden alone
so they won't be a burden to others. I suspect that a measure of this
is due to the ethic of "keeping the slate clean." If you are never a
burden to anyone else, then you'll never be indebted to anyone else.
Several non-western cultures recognize the value of sharing one
another's burdens, and the sense of interconnectedness which accompanies
it. It is probably no accident that in these cultures the barter system
has a stronger presence than the more impersonal currency exchange.
Remember, it was Ben Franklin, not Jesus or Nazareth, who said,
"Neither a borrower, nor a lender be."
Peace,
Richard
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