in your dark moments

I was reading the “Note from the editor” in the Covenant Companion the other day and it really struck a chord in me. She was writing on the story of Mary Magdalene meeting Jesus outside the tomb and not knowing that its Jesus until he says her name. “Mary.” Then she suddenly realized it was him. (John 20). I can’t imagine that moment, when she’s crying because the one who saved her from everything has been killed. Suddenly someone is invading her crying time, she thinks he is a gardener – asking her why she’s crying. She explains and he just says her name and her eyes are opened. It’s a beautiful scene.
In this “From the Editors” section, the writer talks about how we are so desperate for someone to know us, that “someone would see past our bravado or our tears or our quiet pretense and actually see us.” She points out that of course, Jesus is the one to see us in those places. And when we turn toward him, we receive the healing that only comes from God. She goes on to say that once we respond to Jesus’s call, then we can begin to truly see those around us. To see the places where those in our lives are trying to hide their burdens and suffer alone. We can share in those struggles together by listening, noticing and loving.
For a little over a week now it has seemed like a few of my close friends in seminary have been in some serious struggles. And what has been really cool is the chance that we’ve gotten to be there for each other. To truly step into each others lives and be present. To share moments together that we will look back on with fond memories. They were moments of prayers, tears, hugs, inappropriate laughter, movies to help us escape, cookies, slurpies and being Christ in each others lives.
I know this community doesn’t stay this way forever, it’s the nature of being in Seminary. People go on internship, new students come in, we travel for the summers, people graduate and move on in life. But on some level, it makes me realize how much more valuable this community is right now. In life we have the tendency to hold back, not let people care for us until we’ve reached some euphoric level of friendship. And yes, you don’t have to share things right off the bat that are hard and painful with people to get to the place where care can happen.
Instead, you just have to show up. To notice. To listen. and to love. You don’t have to understand what people are going through or even know, you just have to be there in a tangible way. And this week, my community around me did that for each other and it was one of those moments in my life that I took a heart picture and thought, “This is Church.”