Friday prayer: we need each other

I remember
when you brushed my hair into lopsided pigtails
when you let me “work” at your office to earn quarters
when you came to every basketball game to watch me take stats
when you took me on spring break parent-child adventures
when you sent me goofy pictures and motivational quotes, knowing I was homesick at college
when you played with my tiny son with such delight on your face.
I remember for us both, because I’m not sure how much you can.
You might be the one with the neurological disorder,
but there’s so much I forget too.
That’s why God gives us each other
and stories
and traditions
and rituals,
bringing us together around tables and bedsides,
surrounding us with the cloud of witnesses and all they hold on our behalf.
We never see the whole picture, no matter how healthy our brains.
We are never complete on our own, no matter how healthy our bodies.
We are never self-sufficient, reliant as we are on a God
who works through the limbs and love of other people just as dependent as we are.
We are made to find what we need in one another
by our God whose oneness is made up of interconnected three-ness,
and I am grateful.

Laura Stephens-Reed is a clergy and congregational coach working with ministers and churches across the ecumenical spectrum. Having served in a variety of pastoral roles and denominations, she is primarily affiliated with the Alliance of Baptists and the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship and has ministerial standing in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ). Based in northwest Alabama (United States), Laura is married to a United Methodist pastor, and they have a eight-year-old son. She blogs weekly at laurastephensreed.com.

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