Bear One Another’s Burdens (Galatians 6:2)
She was one of the sweetest junior golfers I’ve had the pleasure of working with, a petite powerhouse on the course. Amanda, as she was known, stood out not just for her talent in golf and gymnastics, but for her diminutive stature, much smaller than her peers.
Yet, despite her size, she possessed a remarkable swing. I considered myself blessed to be her instructor, guiding her journey in the sport from the tender age of seven.
However, one October afternoon, as she arrived for our lesson, it was evident that something was amiss. Fatigue seemed to weigh her down, her usual enthusiasm replaced by weariness.
Each swing appeared forced, lacking her typical finesse. Sensing her need for a reprieve, I made a spontaneous decision to abandon our usual practice routine.
Securing a golf cart, I loaded our clubs, and we departed from the practice tee, seeking solace on the open course. With the late afternoon sun casting long shadows, we stumbled upon a picturesque scene: a group of turkeys leisurely roaming the fairway. Their contented gobbling made us giggle, a moment of levity amidst Amanda’s fatigue.
In that instant, memories of my grandparents flooded my mind. Though they had long since passed, memories of our special times together always remained vivid.
In this moment, I heard my grandmother’s voice, “Run Mere…Run…Scream Louder!”. The vision of me at the same age as Amanda came to the surface of my mind, almost in a similar situation.
When I felt tired and burned out from practicing, my grandmother would encourage me to run and scream as loud as I could on the beach. We would do this in the late evenings when the beachcombers were gone.
She would say, “Chase the seagulls and scream as loud as you can and get it all out.” Sometimes, she would encourage me to scream even louder! When she first told me to do this, I thought it strange, but I listened to her and tried it. I would laugh running around the birds, and she would laugh watching me, and I always felt immediately better. I loved visiting my grandparents at their beach home because I knew it was a place where I could fill up my ‘life’ tank again.
So, I jumped off the golf cart, and I said to Amanda, let’s chase the turkeys while we scream as loud as we can. And off we went, running as fast as we could, chasing turkeys. She screamed, running down the hill in laughter, and before I knew it, we were even doing cartwheels together, and she was showing me her amazing gymnast flips. We laughed until we could not laugh anymore. That was the lesson for the day.
The Lord calls us to carry each other’s burdens. Paul exhorts us in Galatians, “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ (Gal. 6:2).” To bear one another’s burdens takes awareness and mindfulness of those around us. Take a moment and think: is there anyone in your life that you sense is weighed down or in a low mood lately?
Whoever comes to your mind, ask the Lord to help you minister to that person. It can be something simple that helps to lift the weight and pressures of life off them—maybe a laugh, a kind gesture, a word of encouragement. The Lord will show you what to do, even if it means chasing turkeys! Let’s be like Simon of Cyrene, who carried the cross for Jesus out of Jerusalem; let’s help carry the crosses of others today.
Prayer: “Lord, give us discernment on how to help relieve those weighed down in the pressures of life.”