Tuesday, November 02, 2004

“Bear one another's burdens…”

What an odd statement. I, an already burdened person must go to others and bear theirs. I, a sufferer of overwhelming life situations must help others go through life by taking on a piece of their overwhelming life situation.
WHAT THE!?%&@$! Does that make ANY sense.
Sure.
As a community, not solely of believers, but as humans I think, we are to bear one another’s burdens’, and Paul agrees with me (or I with him.) We are to support each other, always giving and getting support so that the person is no longer bearing anything, but the community as a whole is the crutch under the proverbial bum leg. Let me illustrate.
Sequoia trees (the big monstrous trees down south) are massive and tall. But interestingly enough, these mammoth trees have a very shallow root system, and if left to stand bearing their own weight they would topple over. That’s why you will never find a sequoia all by itself in the middle of a field. It’s always in amongst its fellow sequoias. Why? Because without each other, without the community, they would not survive. You see each sequoia’s root system is the same as the next: shallow and unable to support itself. So the trees grow close enough to each other so that each tree’s roots get intertwined with the trees that surround it. And those trees with the trees that surround them and so on so forth. Eventually you get a community of sequoia’s all connected to each other supporting their collective weight. In order to tip over one tree you’d have to tip over the whole forest of trees. Such is the way we are to be.
We are to surround ourselves with others, connect with them, be in community so that each person is connected to a plethora of others, and each bearing one another’s burden. But in order for this to happen we need to be willing not only to bear, but to be bore. If we want others to rely on us, we must also make ourselves vulnerable to rely on others. It’s a flip side lifestyle, where each is supporting the other; each is bearing the other’s burden. To not live this way is not to be independent, but to be egocentric. (egocentric: to think of yourself as: the center; self-sufficient; all you need)
Burdens, overwhelming life situations are inevitable. They are a part of life. Would life not be easier if we lived that life sharing one another’s load, making it lighter for everyone in the end. Wouldn’t it be better? The sequoia’s think so.

Roach out.

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