Homonymingly speaking …

It seems we are all eternally waiting or weighting and both put the heavy expectations of life on us. Time moves incredibly fast, but yet not fast enough when we are expecting something to happen or praying something else will pass. Likewise, those extra pounds life has deposited upon us weigh just as heavily, with most of us waiting for the day we will look like we used to. Indeed heavy is the head that wears the crown as they say.

Thinking in terms of the weight that holds us down, I was watching a recent Disney movie with my granddaughter when the hero is tangled up in a sword battle with of all things a horse. In the scene, the horse is of course foiled, even if it was the strangest thing either had ever done. The effortless swings of the sword were of course animated, but it made me think. The actual weight of a sword is incredible! You don’t just pick one up and go swinging through the sails like Jack Sparrow and likewise the huge guns  we see in movies and sadly in attacks against one another,  are as heavy as a small child – something that is not lost in the reality of death. 

Watching news accounts of all the horrific shootings in 2012 when a killer felt dead couldn’t wait, but Heaven could I realized how small these men really were. Not just in mental and spiritual size, but actual physical stature.  Holding one of these semi-automatic weapons, let alone having it fire the assine ammunition is not an easy task and it made me wonder. Where does the strength come from in such a moment? Is it from the full weight of evil, which has kept the individual grounded in life? Or is it in the knowledge that once the moment is over there will be nothing more to wait for in life. Regardless, it is a strength that must have balance.

In holding the scales of justice, each side is never equally weighed down. We hope and pray though that the side of peace and honor will be just a little higher, like the God who guides most of us waiting for the moment when we realize what the right thing to do is. Indeed life balances more weight than any of us know when we are waiting for humanity.

Holding my granddaughter as I love to do isn’t as easy as it used to be, as weeks and months have seen her grow from the little snuggle wrapped burrito who came to us on a winter day in February. She is now a toddler force to be reckoned with who rarely waits for anything, but holding her regardless of how she has grown I always seem to find the strength. Thinking of the muscles that work with my head and heart to hold her, I again think in terms of the weaponry that of late has been more concerned in taking out our children in a much different way.

Waiting as life plays out for us is never easy, but sharing it through love and experience is the key that makes it work. If someone in your life appears to have the weight of the world upon them, depressed, lonely or hurting don’t wait for them to come to you. Instead, reach out and let them know you are there – armed and ready with love and hope to make them a part of life. How different this year could be for so many if we each took the impulse and brought someone out of their corner by weighing our happiness and blessings against their darkness or pain and balanced the spiritual justice just once or twice a month.

Walking the path of life as we wait for a heavenly eternity is long indeed. However, doing it with others will shorten the distance before us and was after all the original plan. Taking each step as we look at one another the message is as clear as it always was – He ain’t heavy, he’s my brother.