Burden Bearers

Do those two words remind you of pack mules or camels? Such animals have been valuable for centuries, but humans also have a burden-bearing capacity.

Bearing a burden means being helpful in some way. Sometimes you are required to do the heavy lifting. Other times your help is needed to bear up under emotional stress.

While fighting cancer in 2007 I had many burden bearers. The closest one was my husband. He drove hundreds of miles that year between our home and the city where I had to be for treatments. I'm still grateful for his help. The year was filled with doctor appointments, chemo, surgery, radiation, labs, and scans.

What is a burden? My dictionary says it's anything hard to bear or put up with. Not all human burdens are physical. Some are emotional. Right now, isolation is creating a burden for many, as well as a loss of jobs and a lack of finances. And death always creates burdens for those left behind.

The Apostle Paul instructed believers to bear (endure or carry) other people's burdens and so fulfill the law of Christ (Galatians 6:2). So, what did Jesus say about that?

It's really quite clear in John 15:12-13: This is My commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, to lay down one's life for his friends.

Love is a tricky word. Our first reaction is generally emotional. But my husband often acted out of love, not as a feeling, but for the good of another.

Next week I'll share the "boots on the ground" explanation of love expressed in First Corinthians, chapter thirteen. Meanwhile, what are you doing to help bear someone's burdens?

Practical help may include giving a ride when needed. Other help may include providing a meal to meet dietary needs, calling with a word of encouragement, or sending a card or text. Donations to burden-bearing organizations help, too.

There are many ways to be a burden bearer. The important thing is to do it, not just think about it.