Filling in the "Gaps"

          When Jesus saw his mother and the disciple whom he loved standing nearby, he said to his mother, “Woman, here is your son.”

John 19:26

Here is something I shared yesterday at the Community Good Friday service at Holy Cross Catholic Church here in Pickens:

We live in a busy world.  How many of us constantly scramble trying to keep pace with the unrealistic demands we place on ourselves? Everyday stuff becomes urgent and consumes us to the point that there is no room for anything, or anyone, else.

Why are we then surprised when difficulties and struggles come that we find our lives going from busy to frantic? We fill in every gap with activity as we try to patch the pain and ease the hurt we experience.

Someone I visited this week shared with me, “I had my plans of what I hoped to do [before getting sick], but now there’s just a great big gap.”

“It’s true,” I nodded, “and you know what I have learned about those gaps? It’s in those unplanned times in my life that God draws near, speaks to me and uses me the most.”

As Jesus suffered on the cross, he was struggling for breath and feeling the tear of the nails in his hands and feet. His back scraped open wounds across a coarse wooden beam. If anyone had a right to be focused on their own pain and suffering, it was Jesus. Who would blame him? 

Instead, Christ models the love of others he taught his disciples.  He sees Mary’s hurt and pain through the drops of blood that traced his face.  He shows an ultimate concern for her even as he draws nearer to death. “Woman, behold your son.” These words breathed by our Savior show that he never lost sight of others in his darkest hours. He knew that Mary needed the comforting assurance that she would not be alone even after Jesus was gone.

“Love one another as I have loved you,” says Jesus. May we take pause – especially when our days are busy and difficult -- so that we might embrace the ‘gaps’ of life.  Even when things are not going as we planned, may we take every opportunity to show love to others as Christ has loved us.

Grace and Peace,