and make me the cup of strength to suffering souls
Caring about and for others is exhausting. If we don’t have a way to replenish it, our well of strength and compassion can run dry. When this happens, we are unable to support our own life’s burden (much less help anyone else). Sadly and often, this truth is ignored until the fatigue has already set in.
The wonderful and terrible truth is that none of us can offer much from our own resources, so a reframing is in order. If we are wise, or just blessed with common sense, we’ll forget about being a well and ask God to make us a cup of strength – and trust that God will fill and refill us again and again when we run dry.
This reflection and the one on joy and gladness seem to conflate for me. It seems I have joy when I give joy .
Thanks, Johnna
It seems like that’s the way reality works, doesn’t it? Giving and receiving aren’t exactly separate activities – more like two sides of the same coin? Peace, Johnna
Thanks to Heidi Marcotte for the mug in this picture!