Hello Maggie,
It’s Good Friday, and so today we’re reflecting on the theme of Soul Support, and how we are nourished by each other – and by God – when times are tough.
Even in the most challenging times, we can draw strength and resilience from both those close to us and from strangers. Their support and kindness can provide encouragement and hope, reminding us that we are never truly alone in our struggles.
Here’s today’s Friday Fix music blog:
Massive Attack – ‘Protection’
Human beings are social beings. We need one another. We need support from others – to laugh with us in moments of joy and to weep with us in moments of sorrow, to challenge us when we become blasé and to protect us when we are in danger. To be human requires having neighbours.
When Jesus is asked who our neighbours are, he offers instead a parable that explores what it is to be neighbourly ourselves.
And so, as I’m asked to reflect on Soul Support and the way we look for nourishment from others when times are tough, I find myself offering a song that reflects not on others offering us support, but rather the desire, the need, the calling to be that support, that protection, for others.
As Jesus dies on the cross, he continues to build community. He looks at his mother and his closest friend and places them in one another’s care. This relationship means that not only have they someone to lean on, but they also have the responsibility to let the other lean on them – to protect one another from the fiercest storms of life.
Human beings need one another, and as followers of Jesus we know that we are called to not only love God but to love our neighbours as ourselves. That works both ways – as we need support, so we are called to be that support for others, that we might be nourished together in body, mind and soul.
Thanks to Tom Osborne for today's reflection.
