140 | Look Below the Surface
LOOK BELOW THE SURFACE || Have you heard the phrase “appearances can be deceiving”? When you look at this photo, what do you see? Most obviously, it is a selfie of our family. We’re at the Christmas tree farm the day after Thanksgiving, living out what has become a delightful tradition for picking our Christmas tree.
What you likely don’t see, unless you know to look, is a giant contusion on the right side of my jaw from when I fell on Thanksgiving morning, hitting the corner of the bedside table. What you don’t see is my effort to rally before our outing and the rest I took afterward because my body was sore and tired from the trauma.
Don’t worry, I’m okay. Nothing broken, nothing worrisome behind the fall. I’ve been to the doctor. I’m healing nicely. I’m being gentle with myself and my people have been loving and supportive.
I’m sharing this as a reminder that it is an act of compassion to look below the surface, to not simply take things at face value and assume that’s the full story.
So many of us are carrying wounds or worries. So many of us have hidden cares and responsibilities. So many of us are rallying to still do what’s meaning-making in a season that proclaims joy while feeling weary from the weight of what we carry.
As we rush headlong into Christmas preparations, we also have this gift of the Advent season. We have these weeks that remind us that the coming of Emmanuel, God With Us, is in response to our brokenness, longing, and need for healing–as individuals and as communities. These weeks remind us that God sees us and meets us where we are with love.
How might we do that for one another?
