For about the last month or so we've been talking about Paul in our "Stories and Songs" Sunday videos. We've told the story of his astonishing conversion experience, and his almost sitcom-like getaway from persecutors by being lowered over the city wall in a basket. We've talked about his travels, and about the letters he wrote to the fledgling communities of believers that he taught and mentored and loved.

 

I wonder what Paul would've thought if someone had told him that 2000 years in the future people all over the world, including a certain lakeside suburb halfway around the world, on a continent he didn't even know existed, would still be reading his letters, and hearing God speak through them.

 

One of Paul's statements to the Galatians particularly stood out to me this morning: " Carry each other ' s burdens , and so fulfill the law of Christ. "

 

I don't know anyone who hasn't been feeling the weight of stress lately. We can all name our own highlight reel of worries; the world is overwhelming right now. I think that's why Paul's formulation of "love one another" as "bear each other's burdens" feels so apt. It's feels concrete, human-scaled, specific. And it points out that the love we're called to is by its nature self-sacrificial. I ease your burden by taking some of the weight onto myself.

The discomfort of wearing a mask so I don't spread COVID-19 is a burden I can carry for others at risk of serious illness. The discomfort of bearing witness and working for systemic change is a burden I can carry for those affected by racist policing practices. The discomfort of using a person's preferred pronouns is a burden I can carry for those who identify outside of gender norms.

 

Carry each other's burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ--the law of Love.

Whose burden are you being called to help carry along the Way?

Blessing in Christ Jesus,

Lindley Traynor