One Great Fellowship of Love

this week i am away from home because my brother had a serious health setback at the end of last week and needed my sister and me to come help him.  i am staying at the home of another relative who is out of town this week, while my sister stays with my brother in his apartment.  both my sister and brother have had life-threatening, debilitating health issues over the past few years, but my sister has largely recovered, while the problems seem to keep piling on for my brother.

as i sit this morning, i think about the suffering my brother is experiencing.  at the time in his life when he should be able to relax in his retirement and enjoy life, he is fighting to keep going.  financial and health issues cause him constant suffering.  each time he seems to be emerging from one crisis, another occurs.  he finds obstacle after obstacle in his path, and there seems to be no way forward.  he is a good person, a kind person, a lover of animals, a rescuer of abandoned dogs.   what life has handed him is undeserved, but he perseveres, though he is sometimes overwhelmed as he was when struck by this latest series of difficulties.

perhaps the presence of my sister and i will help him in his struggle.  i know that my sister is a calming, stabilizing influence, and i know that his son, who has been working with all his might to maintain his work schedule, care for his own family, and help his father as much as possible is glad that he has some help for a couple of weeks.  having some assistance in negotiating the complications of the medical system, in doing some planning for his care, and in finding some solutions to the financial problems that major medical issues can bring may give my brother some hope that life will not always be this way for him.

it is hard to think rationally when there is so much irrationality in life.  to detach oneself from the emotional responses to situations like what my brother is facing so that one can establish priorities, tackle the pieces of the puzzle one at a time, and figure out what will work requires an approach that isn't easy to come by, but such detachment is necessary.  so as my sister deals with the emotions involved in these difficulties that my brother faces, perhaps his son and i can work to find a way forward that addresses the physical and financial parts of the situation with logic so that the end result is a better life for him.

after we've railed at the injustices of life, may we also see its beauty.  may we remember that suffering is our universal experience, but so is joy.  may we bond together to help each other, because we can't go it alone.  may we know that life was meant to be a communal experience, each of us helping those around us along the path.  shalom.