Seek the Lord while He may be found.

Psalm 31: 9-12 

Be merciful to me, Lord, for I am in distress;

    my eyes grow weak with sorrow,

    my soul and body with grief.

My life is consumed by anguish

    and my years by groaning;

my strength fails because of my affliction,

    and my bones grow weak.

Because of all my enemies,

    I am the utter contempt of my neighbors

and an object of dread to my closest friends—

    those who see me on the street flee from me.

I am forgotten as though I were dead;

    I have become like broken pottery.

These lines from Psalm 31 were read at the beginning of a homily given by Bishop Paul Leeland. His message was powerful. The subject was caring for those suffering from dementia. “I am forgotten as though I were dead.” 

Is there any soul more forgotten than someone with dementia? Someone unable to express the loss? Someone who is unable to express love? How hard it is to love when someone is unable to reciprocate the love of God back to us! For all of those we struggle to share Christ’s love with, do we struggle because we cannot see and feel anything in return? Is it hard because we have to do all the work?

But we aren’t sharing Christ’s love alone. The Holy Spirit is with us along with all of those we share our mission with. Let us build a tribe who shares in the mission with us, and there will be plenty of shoulders to share the burden of those who suffer the most. There is no denying that there are many burdens in life, but the people who suffer with those burdens are not burdens themselves. Let us help carry burdens for those that cannot. Let us see the joy and light in them. Let us share our joy and light with them. Do not let us forget the ones who need us the most. Let us all care for them and those who care directly for them. 

Our prayer: Christ, who bears our burdens, let us love with all our heart those that have the most trouble sharing love with us. Let them know that love is there and is shared in ways that we ourselves cannot imagine. Amen.

This devotional was written by Jill Pope and read by Bernice Howard.

Grace for All is a daily devotional podcast produced by the members of the congregation of First United Methodist Church in Maryville, Tennessee. With these devotionals, we want to remind listeners on a daily basis of the love and grace that God extends to all human beings, no matter their location, status, or condition in life.

If you would like to respond to these devotionals in any way, we would enjoy hearing from you. Our email address is: podcasts@1stchurch.org.

First United Methodist Church is a lively, spirit-filled congregation whose goal is to spread the message of love and grace into our community and throughout the world. We are located on the web at https://1stchurch.org/.