The Weight of What We Carry

Those things we are struggling with that we carry through all our days and moments.

Money problems that wake up at night as we run numbers again and again in our heads or worries about our health as we think about things that seem just not right but we don’t really know if we want the answers to our questions.

Things we carry for our kids like the weight of their futures and their choices and their dreams and their broken hearts.

The things we carry for our parents as we hold on to them for dear life sometimes feeling like we did when they were small wanting them to never leave us.

The things we carry with our friends as they struggle with all the things they don’t say as they smile and ask about your day. We know the dark of their night and we hold space to carry that dark.

The things we carry on our hearts for all of the people and for all of the things and for our own dear selves.

It. Is. Heavy.

And yet.

We walk around this planet looking as if there is no weight at all.

Nothing to see here.

We play music and sing along a little and get dressed in clothes we’ve given thought to and watch TV and laugh when it’s funny and brush our teeth and even floss because darn it all were still full of hope.

We chat with strangers about the weather and we text friends to check in even if we only have a few minutes to say oh this is hard and how is it for you today?

We drive kids places and buy milk and bread and say hi to the cashier at Target and make small talk with coworkers and do our jobs and make plans for the next day even though we are always aware nothing is really guaranteed.

And I think we are only able to do this because there is this thing that makes that weight a little lighter.

And that thing is each other.

We carry so much but each connection makes us lighter as we pick up each other’s burdens.

This magic happens somehow every time.Things are lighter when we’re not alone.

Sometimes we get small bits of light in those little moments when a stranger smiles or someone gives you the good parking space.

Other times we get to unload to a listening ear and then gather in all the struggles of their hearts too and somehow we each walk away feeling feeling lightness.

That light is a gift from God.

We are God’s gift to each other, we are here to be his love in the world.

He made us to need each other and he made the magic in the connection between all of his children and he made it an honor to share this life with each other.

If only we can remember it is so.

As we walk through these days let’s remember the weight of what we all carry.

Let’s use those ‘how are you’s and ‘excuse me’s and ‘You can go before me in this line because you look even more tired than me’s to lift each other’s burdens.

Let’s use our listening and our time to lift up our dearest ones.

Don’t be fooled into thinking you are the only one with troubles. That weight you carry is matched by the person scanning your groceries and also your best friend.

Let’s treat each other accordingly. Lift someone up and you’ll feel a little lighter too. Even if it is just giving up that good parking space.

Because every bit of it counts toward the light.