I gave a good friend a call the other day, just to check in with him. I expected it to be a relatively pro-forma call. You know …
“How are you doing?”
“Fine …”
Instead, I was surprised at the depth of emotion he shared with me, the breadth of challenges he was struggling to overcome, which I hadn’t seen from the outside.
I immediately recalled an internet meme I trust you’ve seen the past few years: “Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle.”
Or as St. Paul says it in 1 Corinthians: “Who knows a person’s depths except their own spirit that lives in them?”
Externally, what we see of others’ lives is often just a tough exterior that they “front” for the world. The tip of the iceberg, as it were. Meanwhile, for almost all human beings, the challenges we face are hidden from view. We look at the perfectly curated Instagram feeds, the happy Facebook posts of our neighbors and friends, and we think, “My life is not that perfect.”
And that is absolutely true. But — and this is the part we often miss, over and over again — their lives aren’t that perfect either
The separation forced upon us by the pandemic is making all of this worse, of course. Instead of social gatherings, many folks I know are still limited to their family interactions. For parents, it’s enough to just get their kids in school every day.
My mind keeps going back to all those who are working overtime to make our world a better place. I’m praying for teachers in classrooms. I’m praying for healthcare workers in hospitals.
We throw out the term “hero” to describe them, often without realizing the real traumas they are enduring during this time. A doctor in our congregation recently told me about the hospital where he works in East Texas. The hospital is so full with ICU patients that they’ve set up a tent on the roof to help serve other patients.
But what floored him was how little attention the situation received in local media there. His colleagues were working extended shifts and overtime hours, while just down the street at the mall, the school, the neighborhood, life was going on like absolutely nothing at all was happening.
That’s why many of us in Oak Cliff continue to support the hospital in our neighborhood, Methodist Dallas Medical Center, in this time. As you may have heard, our church has been collecting handwritten cards of support for doctors, nurses and all the support staff there.
We continue to hear that our local health care workers are truly moved and uplifted by these cards. Anyone is welcome to bring letters by the church to add to our weekly number of cards or deliver them yourself.
Or consider writing to a local teacher to check up on them. And, of course, call your own friends, too.
No one knows the depths of another person’s spirit, but their own spirit and the Spirit of God. And right now, everyone is fighting battles that are hard to see. So, please, be kind to everyone. Be sure and check in with folks around you. You may be surprised just how grateful they are that you did.
ERIC FOLKERTH is Senior Pastor at Kessler Park United Methodist Church. The Worship section is underwritten by Advocate Publishing and neighborhood businesses and churches listed. Call 214.560.4212 or email sales@advocatemag.com for advertising information.
