“The cross is too great” I cried.

“More than the back can bear,

So rough & heavy & wide,

And nobody near to care.”

And One stooped softly & touched my hand, 

“I know. I care. And I understand”.

We’re not alone in this thing called life.  

We are not involuntarily separated from Jesus, or from others. 

There’s a story of companionship in the second chapter of Simple Spirituality.  It goes like this:

Sadhu Sundar Singh, an Indian mystic, was traveling through Tibet when the temperature dropped suddenly.  In the snow, he stumbled over a body and insisted he & his guide carry the man to the next village to save his life.  

The guide refused for he thought it would hinder his well-being, so he left the frozen man and Sadhu behind. 

A few hours later, Sadhu stumbled over another body.  It was his guide’s.  

The weight of the man Sadhu carried created enough warmth to keep them both alive through the snow and wind.  They made it safely.. because they had one another.  

“No one can live without the help of others, and in helping others, we receive help ourselves.”

It’s the weight of community, the joys and sorrows, that saves us.  This burden has saved me.