Thank you for this thought-provoking thread.
My first thought is one of gratitude for the burdens of my life, and they are not few.
Thankfully, my life has been filled with burdens.
The gift of a child is an indescribable blessing and caring for a child is a blessed burden which taught me, among many other things, the great value of selflessness.
There have been the many burdens of caring for a loved one who was suffering or of being ill myself at times, but my loved ones and I grew stronger and wiser and more compassionate by bearing those burdens.
Christ’s suffering was a burden. He willingly carried His burdens for love of us and to show us how to be selfless and to love one another.
I’ve lived long enough to be thankful for the many burdens which I’ve endured.
I still have a long way to grow but without the burdens which have ambushed me along the way I’d be much more selfish than I am.
If my children have to care for me I hope and believe that they, too, will carry that burden with compassion, learning even more during that time about what loving another human being means.
Thank you, again, Az Joe.
Your thread has brought to mind so many difficult yet wonderful memories of loved ones, many of whom are no longer here with me, that I will go to sleep tonight with a heart full to overflowing with gratitude.
Good night and May God bless you and yours.
thx
Well said, FRiend.