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LISTEN

“On one of those days, as he was teaching, Pharisees and teachers of the law were sitting there, who had come from every village of Galilee and Judea and from Jerusalem. And the power of the Lord was with him to heal. And behold, some men were bringing on a bed a man who was paralyzed, and they were seeking to bring him in and lay him before Jesus, but finding no way to bring him in, because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and let him down with his bed through the tiles into the midst before Jesus.”—LUKE 5:17-19 (ESV)

Reflect
Pastor Nadia Bolz-Weber describes how she understood the truth of our interdependence most fully when she began practicing the uncomfortable honesty demanded by Alcoholics Anonymous. “Recovery is hard to do on your own,” she observed. “You have to do it with a group of other people who are messed up in the same way but have found some light in their darkness.”34 They nicknamed this sort of community “The Rowing Club.” They were all in the same boat. And they would have to take turns pulling on the oar. At times, each person would have to be willing to be carried.

Respond
Some days we can be the one who gives, and other days we need to receive. Which is it for you today?

34 Nadia Bolz Weber in “The Insight of Outsiders,” February 6, 2018, in Everything Happens, presented and produced by Kate Bowler, podcast, 35:36, https://katebowler.com/podcasts/nadia-bolzweber-the-insight-of-outsiders-s1e1/.

Blessing for friends who hold us up

You are called to love,
but people are inherently risky.
Telling your story, being known,
asking for help,
even voicing the same worry again
for fear it might sound cliché.
(Shouldn’t you be over it already?)

But something beautiful happens
when you’re known.
You are become stronger somehow.

Think of the pillars holding up cathedrals.
Flying buttresses, designed to support
walls that might otherwise crumble.
They allow the structures to rise taller,
more intricate, adorned with ornaments,
or filled with stained glass
that scatters colorful light in every direction.

When you don’t feel tall or strong, may you find those who hold you up,
who remind you how loved you are.

Yes, you’ll get back up again today.
You’ll get those kids cereal,
help parents with an errand,
go to work or come up with something
better to do with retirement hours.

You will try again.
Because someone else’s absurd faith in you
fortifies you.

So, blessed are the flying buttresses—
those who hold us up when
everything feels ready to fall apart.

They let us face the day,
not because we’re doing it alone,
but precisely because we aren’t.35

35 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. “For Friends Who Hold Us Up” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 60-61.

© KateBowler.com