I listen to podcasts often while doing mindless tasks around the house and garden. NPR is always in rotation. This week, I heard a woman sharing her story of mountain climbing in Nepal. She emphasized that scaling heights was a personal challenge that took much effort and discipline on her part, yet this climb couldn’t have been accomplished without a community effort.
Primarily, the trained Sherpa guides carried the bulkload of responsibility: giving navigational specifics, providing prescriptive nutritional needs, hauling camping essentials on their backs, and even lightening her backpack and adding on to theirs when oxygen scarcity disabled her breathing.
Isn’t this an apt picture of how a community works? We know who to call on to give wise direction, who amongst us can cook those meals, and who is able to lighten our loads when we’re too depleted to carry the full burden ourselves.
Often, our support community will step in intuitively. Nevertheless, don’t hesitate to ask for help! Your “shirpas” are trained and ready to lighten your load.
Whose load will you lighten today?
Jesus said, “Come to me all whose work is hard, whose load is heavy; and I will give you relief. Bend your necks to my yoke, and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble-hearted, and your souls will find relief. For my yoke is good to bear, my load is light.”