Recently I was in a car accident coming home from work. Tired and hungry, I sat waiting on the green light to go and grab something to eat. As I was pulling out on a rainy night, someone moving too fast, trying to stop on the inside lane hit me in my door. It was dark, raining, and I was scared , sitting in the middle of a busy intersection. Its only the precious mercies of the Lord it wasn’t very bad. Other than the bump on my head, I’m just sore, but fine. As I came to my senses I immediately noticed something. People, ( for whatever reasons) prefer to look but not get involved. I was hit hard enough that I couldn’t think straight, it was dark & I was terrified someone else would top that hill not knowing I was there and really hit me.

At first someone walked around the car yelling, trying to get my attention to see if I was ok. He couldn’t see in very good because of the rain or open my door because it was stuck. I was not thinking straight so the yelling was making me worse, even though he was just trying to help.... A few mins later a different man walked up to the car pulled the door open that was jammed and got down on his knees in the middle of a busy road to check on me. I was scared, upset, and not very happy at the moment. He was quiet, calm and reassured me I was fine, the car, that I had been driving only a couple of months was fine and medics were coming. I was not badly hurt & In that moment, that was what I needed most. Just presence…Another person enables us to bear twice as much pain, just being there.

We take for granted sometimes just how important it is to Just Be Present. He did nothing special, didn’t fix one thing, no great words, he was just present in my “suffering” so I would know I wasn’t alone. Soon the medics & police were there and he was gone and eventually I was allowed to go home. Later that night I was thinking about that moment and how it affected me. Many times I feel as if I could not help someone who is suffering because, how could I relate? So maybe I just “look and pass on by.” But we have the ability to step into someones life during their trauma, calmly and with no outstanding gifts and just be there. It is far more important than fancy words or big speeches and can be more valuable than money. It’s the gift of sharing one another’s burdens sitting silently beside the one who is hurting might be the best gift we can give.

In the Bible The Parable of the Good Samaritan Luke 10:25-37 NIV A man is attacked by robbers and left for dead on the side of the road. People of importance see this man, and pass him by. Religious people him see him and walked on past, some even moved to the opposite side of the road. But a Samaritan…A person that was thought to be trash, or worthless in the eyes of most, saw the man half dead and had pity on him. He was moved and compelled to take action, he went to him and bandaged up his wounds, put him on his own donkey, and then took him to an Inn to take care of him. He had compassion on someone who was suffering & didn’t worry about how it would reflect on him. He was just present in pain. Jesus says for us to go and do like wise.

Many times in my life people have walked in and done nothing they would think to be special, but it was a comfort to me. Standing silently next to me in my pain, at critical times when words wouldn’t, couldn’t change anything. When I was afraid, when I was unsure, when my world was literally falling apart. I was not alone, and I thank God above He placed them there to silently hold me together when I was falling apart. We have been given a gift in earthly vessels, the gift of presence. The amazing gift of when we make it through the other side of our pain & suffering, the gift of allowing someone else to know that they are not alone, on this earth or in heaven. To allow them to know THERE IS HOPE

Be humble and gentle:be patient, bearing with one another in love Ephesians 4:2

Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ Galatians 6:2