People On The Path
/
“So I urge you now to live the life to which God called you. Always be humble, gentle, and patient, accepting each other in love.” Ephesians 4:1-2
I recently had lunch with my friend, Pat, and her two children. Pat’s husband, Bill, died over a year ago, and I had the privilege of officiating at his service. Pat has embraced trying to live into this different life, and she has used my book – Living In The Different – as her foundation to take steps forward on this grief journey. Pat says that God keeps putting people on her path that are grieving. She shares with them, listens to their grief, and recommends or gives them my book. Pat’s encounters help her in her own grief journey. God has given her comfort as she comforts others. Grief equals love to Pat. She shares Bill’s love that always remains in her heart with people on her path.
I have encountered a variety of people on my path in recent weeks. I listened to a group of women who were grieving their husbands and felt the loneliness and emptiness of not having their person with them. They were trying to figure out how to live in this different life. They were encouraging of each other and shared their struggles and also their laughter. It was good to be together without judgment knowing everyone in the room could relate and understand. These are people on the path to draw closer – people who accept you and your grief and place no judgment. They walk beside you on the path and give you hope and encouragement when you stumble or feel stuck. They are with you on the path.
Then on the path was a person who complained and assumed rules were being broken. I realized he was so focused on finding fault with others that he was not living his own life. He was existing to judge others and complain. At first, he irritated me, but then I was sad for him. It is not how God wants us to live. Some people on the path are not healthy emotionally for us and they do not want to move forward on the path. These are the people we pray for and release them to God, we set a boundary around them, and let them be who they have chosen to be. You cannot fix or change them. You do not let their negativity consume you because they will have control over your thoughts. I have learned to be kind but also quiet.
On the path, I witnessed the love and support of friends and church family. They surrounded my friend whose wife had passed with the love of Jesus. He is loved, and he loves those around him. They are the body of Christ in action. My friend states that he is blessed. It is because of the love he and his wife had shared with others in the past that now he receives the fruit of his labor of love.
Then I experienced the joy of my nieces and nephews at a festival. My nephew hugged me, and he was soaking wet. He had been playing in the rain. The rain delayed the parade and made others irritated, but not my nephew. He played in it and embraced the rain. It is a pleasure to encounter people on our path who love the simple things in life and dance in the rain instead of complaining about it. These are people who make us smile, bring laughter to our hearts, and help us live in the current moment of life. Embrace these people who breathe life into you.
My weeks have been filled with a variety of people with whom I have shared the path of life. Some were hurting and sad. Some searching and confused. Some hopeful and seeking purpose. Some negative and judgmental. Some joyful and at peace with life. God was present in each encounter. I am learning not to absorb someone else’s mood and attitude and focus more on God’s presence with me.
We can all go quickly down the complaining, negative path with people, but I believe as we try to live into this different life, our encounters need to be different. How are we signposts and guides to those we meet on the path? I want to be a light of hope and joy, not a cloud of gloom and woe. God calls us to live a life that is filled with gentleness, patience, and love. Even in our own grief and sadness, we can be patient and kind.
