A great number of the people followed him, and among them were women who were beating their breasts and wailing for him.
Jesus is being led to the cross. Just as it happened when his earthly life was beginning, people are gathering as his earthly life is ending. Jesus inspires us to gather. And so does misery.
I remember shortly after 9/11, I felt a greater sense of community than I had in a long time. Some neighborhood friends came over that night, bearing a small gift – homemade soap – just so we could be together. We could not solve anything. We had no answers. But there was something lovely about gathering in that pain. A few days later, my husband and I were trying to continue that sense of community, so we headed down to the lovely and small Afghani restaurant, to be with community. Apparently, we were not alone. There was a line down the block. People want to gather, to share their grief, and to be community.
Since that time, some of my most comforting memories are when friends and colleagues sit with me in moments of grief. Companionship is what we seek, especially when we grieve. We don’t need solutions. And looking at the root of the word companion, we want to share bread.
It’s interesting to me, because what I love and what I seek when I’ve grieving is generally not my first instinct when I join someone else who’s grieving. I’m the one who’s willing to kick around possible solutions, to work on a cure, or even to find ways to distract them. What I need to do is be comfortable enough with the unresolvable grief to just companion them. I’m not suggesting I don’t ever get it right, but that my instincts as a friend are not based on my desires when I’m grieving.
This morning, I’m thinking about ways to share bread with the grieving.
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