In This Together

Today, I am not okay.  I am sad and overwhelmed by what is happening in the world, as well as by my own personal grief and struggles.  Everything feels like too much, and everything seems too hard.  Today, I am not okay.

I’m sharing this, because I know I’m not the only one who struggles.  And yet, we often hide our struggles from one another.  We smile and say, “I’m good!” or “Fine, thanks!” when asked how we are.  We keep busy so we don’t have to think too much about the hard stuff.  We push through or push things down, and sometimes our emotions come out sideways.  When that happens, we don’t always notice that there is something more going on beneath the surface.  When we find ourselves in conflict with someone else, we don’t always realize that something might be going on beneath the surface for them as well.

At Holy Cross, we believe that everyone is a beloved child of God and that nothing any of us can do will make God love us any more or any less than God already does.   Therefore, we are free to be open about our struggles - we don’t have to be perfect!  And we are free to love and support one another, knowing that no matter what is going on in someone’s life, they are a blessed and loved child of God.  This is one of the most beautiful gifts of being part of a faith community like ours.  We are part of a family that reminds us of God’s love and embodies the Good News that we are not alone.

This past Sunday, we celebrated the gift of baptism with three children and welcomed them into our church family.  As a community, we made promises to each of them.  We promised to remind them of the truth of their identity as God’s beloved children, especially when the world tries to convince them otherwise.  We promised to support them during difficult times and help them on their journey of faith.  We affirmed that we are “in this together” as people of the same Spirit.  It was such a wonderful reminder of who we are for one another and what we are called to do as a community of faith.

At a time when so much feels out of control, we very much need this reminder.  Each one of us is a blessed and loved child of God.  We are also blessed to be part of a church family that loves and supports us.  We are not alone. On days when things feel too hard, we need to be kind to ourselves and one another.  We need to be patient and gentle with ourselves on days when we are not okay.  As blessed and loved children of God, we can share the love we have been given.  We can extend understanding and grace to one another, giving each other permission to struggle and space to share.  We can remind ourselves and each other that we are not alone.