Sometimes

 Sometimes, when we don’t know what to say,

It’s better to say nothing at all.

But sometimes, when we don’t know what to say,

It’s good to say something simple like

I’m sorry you’re going through this or

This must be hard or

I’m sending thoughts and prayers your way.

 

I suppose it’s hard to know what to do when.

I suppose the default of saying nothing at all is better than saying too much.

I suppose that we all have our own issues and that sometimes other people’s issues overwhelm us.

I suppose that caring is sometimes difficult, not because we don’t want to care, but because we’re in survival mode and we forget to care.

I suppose this isn’t God’s design for us.

I suppose that insulated, tunnel-vision survival mode isn’t how God desires us to live,

Even when it’s hard,

Or it hurts,

Or it causes us to have to care about someone other than ourselves.

 

This world is a hurting place.

An aching place.

War abounds.

Families are torn apart.

Bellies are hungering.

Bones are breaking.

Bodies are shutting down.

Knowing how to respond is confusing,

Knowing how to help is daunting,

And yet we must respond.

We must help.

Somehow.

Someway.

Through giving.

Through going.

Through saying something simple or

Simply listening and saying nothing at all.

But not through ignoring.

Not through avoiding.

Not through pretending.

Not through overlooking.

 

There is too much

Heartache,

Pain,

Sickness,

Disease,

Loneliness,

Hurt

To overlook.

 

So, yes,

Sometimes, when we don’t know what to say,

It’s good to say nothing at all.

But sometimes, when we don’t know what to say,

It’s better to say something simple like

I’m sorry you’re going through this or

This must be hard or

I’m sending thoughts and prayers your way.

 

Dear God: Help us to know what to say when. Help us to know what to do when. Help us to not be so insulated and tunnel-visioned that we forget to care about life outside our own. Help us to live into Your design for us—loving You, and loving our neighbors, near and far, as ourselves. And forgive us, God, when we fall short. Amen.