The Silent Voices

"Ours is a culture that emphasizes cure, or, short of that, immediate relief from symptoms, so that we can carry on with our busy lives. Unfortunately, in our cultural denial of the reality of chronic illness and disability, we frequently silence the voices of those who cannot deny it." -- Marsha Saxton and Florence Howe

What a poignant statement this quote makes by two persons likely to have been silenced in their suffering too. I think it really addresses two audiences. Those who are ill and those who tend to avoid the ill.

First, for those who do suffer illness that is chronic, how much grace must we allow ourselves to keep from wanting to be part of that busy lifestyle again. Second, how many times has those with busy lifestyles failed to recognize the true meaning of ministry by forsaking business to "bear one another's burdens."

Which one are you? Are you striving to be society's success poster only to find yourself chronically knocked down. I urge you to give yourself the permission to rest and live at the pace God has ordained for you in this season. Or are you constantly seeking new personal achievements or filling hours with work and family, forgetting that all of the body of Christ is our family. Have you once invited the hurting to your dinner table and taught your children the value of mercy?

I am one who could possibly be labeled chronically ill. Do I shout from the mountaintops my woes. I used to. Because I wanted help. In God's grace, I have learned to walk in gratefulness and wisdom for those He points me to build such relationship with. But, I still find myself angry at those who pass me and many others like me by, simply because they have filled their schedule with more than enough obligations and activities.

We should all, regardless of health, operate our lives on such a level that we are NEVER to busy to welcome the less gifted into our lives. Ministry such as this resonates the second commandment, "Love your neighbor as yourself." Without demonstration of the second commandment in your life, people will always doubt the reality of the first, "Love God..."!

Remember how Jesus told one fellow how to identify his neighbor in the Bible? He gave an illustration of a Samaritan helping a beaten, dying man. A Samaritan. To a Jew, this was like saying blasphemer in a sense. How much deeper we could go with that one illustration. But, my point today is, give all you've got to keep not just the first commandment at heart, but the second one as well. They belong together, as do both the hurting and the well.