March 24
Scripture: Gal 6:2
Source author: Mary Fran Heitzman
March 24
Burdens Shared in the Parking Lot Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ. —Galatians 6:2
Time was tight. I needed to return to the office when I met her in the mall parking lot. The bumper sticker on her car said: “Someone I Love Was Murdered.” “Someone you love was murdered?” I asked. “Yes, my twenty-seven-year-old son, seventeen years ago— beaten by thugs with two-by-fours.” She spoke softly. “I’m so sorry,” I said. “Would you like a hug?” “Yes, I’d love a hug.” She asked if I’d lost a child too. “No,” I said. “I’ve never experienced the awful grief you have. But I have lost loved ones—a brother and a father just a month apart, many years ago.” We talked a bit more, then she told me she’d lost a sister to suicide. “That grief, I know,” I said. “That’s how my father died.” There we were, two strangers in a parking lot—hugging and sharing our long-ago but still present grief. We clasped hands and wished each other God’s blessings. Suddenly office obligations shifted to a much lower priority.
Grief is a common denominator through which God’s love can flow. — Mary Fran Heitzman —