A while back, my community mate Belén made a comment to me on the bus on the way to work. She said, ‘I think it’s so amazing how everyone looks out for everyone else here’, and that’s had me thinking for quite a while. The small ways people help one another are everywhere you turn… the people who stand in the doors of packed buses grab little kids to help them down, giving up a seat for a pregnant woman or senior citizen, getting the bus driver’s attention when someone needs to get off, etc, etc. I’ve seen people go from house to house asking for contributions to help remove a family member’s body from the hospital, because they don’t have the means to bury them. And people give. I’ve participated in a couple ‘Solidarity Bingos’- buy a tablet for $1, and go play some bingo… people can sell 100 tablets easy! And for most, $1 isn’t just pocket change.
Recently, every morning I have been reflecting on one of the stations of the cross (since we are doing them ever Friday with youth group, I thought I would get more familiar with them!) The other day, I read about the 5th station, where Simon Peter carries the cross for Jesus. The reflection in the booklet talks about allowing others to help us carry our cross, to put aside our pride and allow others to help us in our own weaknesses. We must be vulnerable, so that we allow others to help us carry our burdens. We are all impoverished in one way or another, and trying to hide it leaves us isolated.
I think that Belen’s comment, and taking on one another’s burden, go hand in hand. Material poverty is a mutual experience in Mount Sinai. Here, neighbors and friends can take up one another’s cross in a very unique way, because they understand and live the same reality and carry the same cross. For me, it’s a beautiful solidarity, to take up the cross of your neighbor who suffers from the same burden as you. A friend of mine, a mother of 5, is constantly fighting to put food on the table. It was at her house where I witnessed the family asking for money for a burial… this woman didn’t hesitate to give. She can barely feed her family, yet she understands the suffering of the other and gave from what little she has. It’s understood that every family struggles in one way or another, whether it’s to put food on the table, medical bills, schooling, unemployment, etc, etc. But sharing their own cross with others who are compassionate and understand the same cross, has allowed the Mount Sinai community to band together to ease their burdens together. Alone we are poor, but together we are rich, and in more ways than just monetarily.
I’m not trying to say that I fully understand this reality, because I don’t, and I never completely will. But from where I stand, I’m learning about being vulnerable enough to allow others to help me carry my own crosses. How often do you hear of someone holding a fundraiser in their own house to help pay for a need? When was the last time that someone came up to you and said, ‘I need help. Will you help me?’ I think that many times we’re too embarrassed to ask for help when we need it, we fear that we will be judged by our family or friends. These days, admitting that we have problems, burdens, or need help has become something to be ashamed of.
So, for this Lenten season, I hope we can all think about how to let others into our lives by asking for help, and to enter into the lives of family, friends, and strangers by asking how we can help them. How can we let others take up our cross, and how can we take up the cross of the other?
Recently, every morning I have been reflecting on one of the stations of the cross (since we are doing them ever Friday with youth group, I thought I would get more familiar with them!) The other day, I read about the 5th station, where Simon Peter carries the cross for Jesus. The reflection in the booklet talks about allowing others to help us carry our cross, to put aside our pride and allow others to help us in our own weaknesses. We must be vulnerable, so that we allow others to help us carry our burdens. We are all impoverished in one way or another, and trying to hide it leaves us isolated.
I think that Belen’s comment, and taking on one another’s burden, go hand in hand. Material poverty is a mutual experience in Mount Sinai. Here, neighbors and friends can take up one another’s cross in a very unique way, because they understand and live the same reality and carry the same cross. For me, it’s a beautiful solidarity, to take up the cross of your neighbor who suffers from the same burden as you. A friend of mine, a mother of 5, is constantly fighting to put food on the table. It was at her house where I witnessed the family asking for money for a burial… this woman didn’t hesitate to give. She can barely feed her family, yet she understands the suffering of the other and gave from what little she has. It’s understood that every family struggles in one way or another, whether it’s to put food on the table, medical bills, schooling, unemployment, etc, etc. But sharing their own cross with others who are compassionate and understand the same cross, has allowed the Mount Sinai community to band together to ease their burdens together. Alone we are poor, but together we are rich, and in more ways than just monetarily.
I’m not trying to say that I fully understand this reality, because I don’t, and I never completely will. But from where I stand, I’m learning about being vulnerable enough to allow others to help me carry my own crosses. How often do you hear of someone holding a fundraiser in their own house to help pay for a need? When was the last time that someone came up to you and said, ‘I need help. Will you help me?’ I think that many times we’re too embarrassed to ask for help when we need it, we fear that we will be judged by our family or friends. These days, admitting that we have problems, burdens, or need help has become something to be ashamed of.
So, for this Lenten season, I hope we can all think about how to let others into our lives by asking for help, and to enter into the lives of family, friends, and strangers by asking how we can help them. How can we let others take up our cross, and how can we take up the cross of the other?
