EFFORT

We live in a world of great beauty but also of great suffering.  Every relationship will always have great meaning because each one of us is precious.  Every relationship takes effort.

Dad and I leave in the morning to visit Vera at the Hospice.  A world of pain and suffering but also a world where there is compassion and caring.

At the front door there sits a lady with no legs in a wheel-chair.  She helps the people who come to the front door who do not know how to open it.  She is able to tall them all you have to do is open it and then the next feel doors will have buttons that need to be pressed.

A simple act of kindness from a woman of courage and strength.

Vera is sitting up in the chair and greets us with a joke.  She tells Larry she expected him to be wearing a pink shirt.  She loves bright  colors and she has lived a colorful life.

We talk and laugh for a while and then she starts to fade and feel dizzy so the cheerful nurses come to put her back to bed.

Both the lady at the door and Vera remind me that laughter and joy, compassion and gentleness and truth still have meaning in our lives.

Life takes effort especially when one is facing suffering.

Human relationships are important as we share time to be with one another.  We all need to feel loved and we all need a helping hand at times, especially when we are suffering.

The gift my church has given me is the gift of authentic and honest friendship even with our imperfections.

This is true of the relationships in our family.