Take Care

I know the world can seem like a suffocatingly bleak place right now. And in moments like this you either want to curl up into a ball or go charging into a burning building to save every last person that you can. Or maybe, just maybe you don’t know what to do. You are paralyzed by all of this. It seems too big. Too much.

So take care. Take care of yourself. Do the things that fill you with joy. Look at all the things that bring you hope. And then look at them again. Pray. Get a good night’s rest. Pull yourself away from the fire hose of bad news for just a little while. Eat well. Read a good book. Watch the show that makes you laugh. Look at the things that bring you hope again. 

Go outside. Walk or run or play. Take a deep breath. Sing the song that makes you smile whether it’s a hymn or a cheesy 80s ballad. Be with people you love. Laugh with them. Cry with them too. Take care of yourself. Because if you don’t take care of yourself, you cannot do the other thing you must do.

Take care of each other. Let the people in your life know that you love them. Let those who are on the outside know that they belong. Stand between the monsters and the bullies and the focus of their small-minded hatred. Read the Gospels, the Law, and the Prophets. Wrestle with them. Do the good that they say. Protect the orphan and the widow, the stranger and the refugee. Love your neighbor as you love yourself.

Pray. Help those in need. Mobilize others to work toward a world in which we take care of each other. Give all that you can to as many people as you can, but leave enough grace for yourself because sometimes love moves the needle very, very, very slowly

Then go home and take care of yourself. And if you can’t do that. If the night seems like it is too much, then let other people in to help take care of you. People who can fill your life with joy. People who can remind you of the the things that can bring you hope. But take care of yourself.

Because the world needs you especially in days like this.