Dear Peace Parents and Families,
While Pastor Joe is on paternity leave, I am continuing to join up with the ongoing editor, Daina Sivanich, to send along to you Peace’s weekly children, youth, and family newsletter.
Martin Luther spoke of the need for “the mutual consolation of the brethren.” He said, “a faithful friend is a great boon and a precious treasure in any situation of life….it remains a great advantage to have a brother/sister with whom one can converse about religion and from whom one can hear words of comfort.”
When someone is in difficult circumstances, I often ask myself, “What do I say?” Honestly, I have stalled before walking into a hospital room or a conflicted scene, wondering how to respond to what I anticipate will be tense or troubled situations.
Kate Bowler knows all about this. At age 35, while teaching at Duke University Divinity School and parenting with her husband their young son, she was unexpectedly diagnosed with Stage IV cancer, causing her to think in different terms about the research and beliefs she had been studying.
One of the results was her memoir, Everything Happens for a Reason: (And Other Lies I’ve Loved). Here are 6 ways to respond to difficult (or even terrible) times, adapted from her memoir. Bowler offers a sense and spirit of both what not to say or how you might respond in meet-them-where-they-are, helpful, life-giving ways to children, family, and friends in those hard, hard moments of life. I hope you will find them as helpful as I do.
–Pastor Mark Nelson