{"id":1111,"date":"2020-06-12T18:24:20","date_gmt":"2020-06-13T01:24:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cru.org\/communities\/city-orangecounty\/?p=1111"},"modified":"2020-06-12T18:35:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-13T01:35:11","slug":"leaning-into-the-pain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cru.org\/communities\/city-orangecounty\/2020\/leaning-into-the-pain\/","title":{"rendered":"Leaning into the Pain"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"
Hitting a hurdle can affect your rhythm and the whole outcome of the race.
Photo by Dave Lowe<\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The other day I was watching a video of a man trying to do hurdles. The first hurdle comes and he clears it like a champ. The second hurdle; clears it too. Then on the third hurdle, his back foot tips the hurdle and it messes up his rhythm. I clench my teeth a little knowing that it\u2019s probably going to get worse.<\/p>\n

The fourth hurdle comes and his front foot knocks it down, but it\u2019s okay, he\u2019s still running, well, more stumbling than running, but he\u2019s trying and that counts for something. The next hurdle comes and he knocks it down with his front foot and stumbles further. He uses his hand to break his fall towards the ground while his feet push him forward. Then he looks up and there is the next hurdle, no time to jump… so he ducks under it. His shoulder catches the hurdle and he\u2019s tumbling to the ground with the hurdle wrapped around his body.<\/p>\n

As I watched, my face made an anguished look and I let out an audible sound of pain as if I was the one stumbling into the hurdle. That moment of anguish that I felt is empathy.<\/p>\n

Empathy is one of God\u2019s greatest gifts to humanity. Some people feel things more intensely than others, but empathy is like a muscle that can be exercised and is a necessity to a rich relationship with Jesus.<\/p>\n

If you are looking to grow in your faith, one thing I recommend is acknowledging those moments of empathy, and acting on them to do good. The deepest relationships we can have are characterized in Romans 12:15 \u2013 Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep.<\/em><\/p>\n

The New Living Translation (NLT) says it this way:<\/p>\n

When others are happy, be happy with them. If they are sad, share their sorrow.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When I was a college minister at UC Davis, there was a student involved in our ministry who was fairly quiet and unassuming. He would run our sound board during our weekly meetings and was dutifully involved in a small group Bible Study. A tremendous grief struck when his father suddenly passed away.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Romans 12:15 exhorts us to weep with those who weep – to share in their sorrow!
Photo by Josue Escoto<\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/strong><\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He was not one to reveal his emotions but I had heard from others the terrible news. I wasn\u2019t sure the best way to respond so I asked my mentors what to do. They advised that I could meet with the student and merely acknowledge the moment of grief, and then God would take it from there.<\/p>\n

Later that week, at our Spring Retreat, during a reflective moment on Saturday night, I sauntered over to the grieving student and sat down next to him. I fumbled through my words and before I could finish I looked over at him and tears were streaming down his face. I couldn\u2019t grasp the level of grief he was feeling but I immediately started crying too.<\/p>\n

To enter into that student\u2019s pain was scary but freeing. After gathering himself, the student said \u201cthank you.\u201d This wasn\u2019t a polite or nice thank you, this was a \u201cthank you from the depths of my soul\u201d thank you and the moment met the world for both him and me.<\/p>\n

My hope and prayer for the church during this time is that we would take Romans 12:15 to heart. There are brothers and sisters in Christ who have been hurting for centuries and as we are made aware of the pain, I pray we would have empathy for them.<\/p>\n

Below is a poem I wrote about George Floyd. Although his life was taken unjustly, it can be easy to look away from the incident that occurred because it is horrific. My encouragement to you is to take a longer look and allow the Holy Spirit to stir in you the empathy that leads you to action.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Empathy for George Floyd<\/h2>\n

Lend your ear to listen
\nHear his cries
\nFor a breath
\nFor his mama
\nLend your eyes and see him
\nSee his struggle to breathe
\nSee the foot on his neck
\nSee the injustice for what it is<\/p>\n

Become him
\nRun through your mind, his life
\nAnd put yourself in his place
\nFeel the pain inflicted
\nDwell in the moment,
\nThe eight minutes
\nThat took his life<\/p>\n

You will want to turn away
\nBut have courage
\nAnd look again
\nStruggle with him
\nBreathe with him
\nUntil his last<\/p>\n

As his life is taken
\nThink of the black mothers
\nFor he cried for mama
\nAnd they cried with him
\nThey wept for a murdered son<\/p>\n

Weep with them
\nFeel the grief in their bones
\nAnd don\u2019t look away
\nTake a long look<\/p>\n

Grief rises from our depths
\nBecause to love mightily
\nIs to grieve mightily<\/p>\n

Mourn with those who mourn
\nComfort them<\/p>\n

As Jesus comforts us<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Header photo by K. Mitch Hodge<\/strong><\/a> on Unsplash<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The other day I was watching a video of a man trying to do hurdles. The first hurdle comes and he clears it like a champ. The second hurdle; clears it too. Then on the third hurdle, his back foot tips the hurdle and it messes up his rhythm. I clench my teeth a little […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":1120,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2053],"tags":[2054,2056,2057,2055,41],"class_list":["post-1111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-justice","tag-empathy","tag-george-floyd","tag-hurdles","tag-justice","tag-running"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLeaning into the Pain - Cru - Orange County<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cru.org\/communities\/city-orangecounty\/2020\/leaning-into-the-pain\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Leaning into the Pain - Cru - Orange County\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The other day I was watching a video of a man trying to do hurdles. 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