PREACHER’S NOTE 28 APRIL 2024
We’re heading back to work and to church, getting more
involved, yet somehow we’re still tentative, reserved. In
the past few years, we’ve retreated behind walls, tinted
car windows, busy schedules and masks. If we’re being
honest, we quite enjoy our independence and detachment.
Until we are hurting. Then, a terrible loneliness gnaws at us
– for all the self-help books on Amazon, we can’t heal
alone. God knows that, and gave us a community to belong
to, to be our strength and solace when we’re hurting.
It was always His intention that we should live holding
out our hands to others. The Lord knows, we’ll need those
hands sooner or later ourselves.
I came across an obscure ancient Jewish writing recently,
that describes a community practice long abandoned,
yet so sorely needed. On the holiest of days, Jews would
walk the dusty roads to Jerusalem, climb the stairs to the
top of the Temple Mount, and enter the courtyard. They
would turn right, hundreds and thousands of them, and
walk in a circle in that holiest of places – a sacred pilgrimage.
But, some, those who were broken hearted, would turn
left. They would walk against the flow. Those walking from
the right would notice a downcast face of an approaching
person, ask them “What breaks your heart?”, and listen
to their story. They would then bless them: “May the
One who dwells in this house comfort you”. Total strangers
would see someone in their pain, be with them, and hear
them. The broken-hearted don’t need rescue, they need
someone to walk alongside. And God provided that in a
beautiful ancient, forgotten practice, so needed in the
world today.
The broken-hearted are all around us. If we’re being observant,
we can notice those who need a sympathetic
ear, a hug, an encouraging word. When heartache visits
us, we’ll be so grateful of the same.
Blessings,
Andrew.