CUP OF COMFORT: Compassionate Handkerchiefs

“Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and nights.

And no one said a word, for they saw that his suffering was too great for words.”

Job 2:13

• The incessant ringing of my work phone went nonstop on a day when several agonizing problems swirled in my mind. Outside, dark clouds draped the summer sky. Watching Pauline at her monitor left me even gloomier. The calendar read “Tuesday”; it still felt like Monday. Worse, I felt like Monday. I warned, “I’ll probably burst into tears before this day is over.” Later, a note on my computer offered, “If you need a good cry, let me know, because I could have a good cry at the drop of a dime.” I sure appreciated that. And I recalled how Job’s three friends wept when they first saw him. Then they sat with him, wordlessly, for seven days and seven nights. Suffering comes to each of us. How else could we bear it without the handkerchief of compassion? Tears can blind us—or bind us—to God’s presence.

#cupofcomfort #inspiration