Frodo and Sam may be fictional characters, living in a fantasy world, belonging to a race that doesn't even exist. But their example of true friendship is one that we human beings can and should emulate and actualize in our own lives.
Certainly, Sam's words to Frodo are words that each one of us has had many opportunities to repeat to our own loved ones. "I can't carry your burden for you. I can't feel the pain that your physical disease, emotional anguish, or spiritual sickness is causing you. I can't suffer for you. But I can suffer with you."
If you haven't had your chance to say this to anyone yet, just wait for it - it will come.
And then you'll discover, to your great surprise, that burdens borne with love become blessings. Maybe they feel no lighter, but you find yourself carrying the weight of them gladly. And what a difference gladness makes - to ourselves, and to the people we are helping.
1 comment:
Hi Macky,
Again, your post comes at the right time for me. Remember my group of women friends you met in Vancouver last October? One of them (Tita Ruby) is dying of cancer (the doctors can't even tell where the cancer started because by the time they found out, the cancer had metastacized all over her body, including the brain). We all found out only in late January of this year.
Anyways, the rest of the group is taking care of Tita Ruby. So your post is so apt - we are "carrying" Tita Ruby.
Thank you!
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