Suffering

Our congregation suffered an emotional blow this weekend, with the death of a teenage member of our church. Unbearable sadness for the family, to be sure. And to his high school friends, teachers, and acquaintances, to be sure. And for the rest of us, on the outer fringes of this pain, unbearable sadness amongst us, too.

Someone at church today remarked about "congregation" - the church family. The ones who share and aid and comfort and rejoice; those who supply and apply the necessary physical and spiritual and emotional ointments to those in our midst who are needing.

There is such comfort knowing that we, that Spouse o' Mine and I, have a congregation to whom we can turn in times of need. I suppose it is much like a village. It takes a village - not only to raise a child, but to simply live, thrive, ail, sorrow, grieve, and to take care of one another.

Ecclesiastes 3, King James Version

¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

²A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;

³A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;

⁴A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;

⁵A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;

⁶A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;

⁷A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;

⁸A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.