Our Spiritual Supporters

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking my 23rd trip to Myrtle Beach with my mom's side of the family, along with forty one of my family members. One morning, I was sitting out on the balcony of our condo watching my little cousins play in the pool. And I saw the most incredble scene. But before I tell the story, I need to provide a little background information.

My little cousin Grace has cerebral pulsy, a condition caused by injury or abnormalities in the brain. Cerebral pulsy often causes muscles to be tense and rigid, a problem that makes walking difficult and in some cases, impossible. After surgeries, countless doctors' visits, and hours of physical therapy, my courageous little cousin has shown great progress in learning to walk. Which brings me to my story.

On this particular morning, my aunt Chris was in the pool with Grace and the goal of this pool time was for Grace to take a few steps and stand by herself without anyone holding on to her. At first, Grace could only stand for a second or two before needing support. But then something beautiful and amazing happened. Grace's twin sister, Hannah, came over with my other cousin Ellie and they both started cheering for Grace. They would count how many seconds Grace could stand by herself and then proceeded to sing the ABC's as a way to measure the length of time she could walk and stand by herself. Their enthusiasm caught on and my cousins Sadie, Martin, Delia, Burke, Rudy, Rosemary, and some of my aunts and older cousins came over to show their support. As they all sat counting and singing the ABC's, Grace was visibly different; her determination was apparent; she was ready to reach her goal. And the support she received gave her the confidence to stand and walk for two rounds of the ABC's and 25 seconds!

After watching this scene (and tearing up at how amazing my little cousins are), I was thinking about how our faith is so similar. The reality is that we are all spiritually sick. We are infected by human nature that leads us away from God. We are crippled by fears and doubts that keep us from embracing a relationship with God; we are often deaf to the voice of God calling us to a better and more authentic life; we are blind to the way he is working in our lives. We suffer from insanity, thinking our sins will lead to happiness. We suffer from depression, thinking we are unworthy of God's love. And we suffer from obsessive compulsiveness by failing to practice self-control and being driven by our compulsion to sin.

But one of the beautiful things about our Lord is that he provides us with people in our lives who support us in overcoming our spiritual illnesses. Just as my little cousins encouraged Gracie to stand and walk when her physical condition tried to limit her, we have people in our lives who encourage us when our spiritual illnesses try to hinder our relationship with God. And in turn, we are all called to BE these sources of support. 2 Thessalonians 5:14 says, "We urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak, be patient with all". And this is our role as Christians--to provide support for each other as we all strive for the goal of entering heaven.

So the question today is this: how are our actions allowing others to overcome their spiritual illnesses? Or maybe more importantly, how do our actions intensify the spiritual sicknesses of those around us? Do we take time to listen to those who are struggling with problems or are we too caught up in ourselves? Are we judgemental of those who are living lives of sin or do we continue to be there for them in the midst of it? Do we maintain feelings of anger at those who have hurt us or do we offer forgiveness and love? Today, let us use the example of my cousins, whose support allowed Grace to overcome obstacles, and do what St. Paul told us--"admonish the idle, cheer the fainthearted, support the weak".