Uphold

The sturdy wall bracket, fashioned to resemble a cherub with outstretched and feathered wings, supports a small collection of my vintage books. Its super sturdy. The handyman who hung it for me said I could do pull-ups on it, he had secured it to the wall so very well. I liked that. Its a heavy piece so having it installed properly was an original concern.

But, I’m past thinking about the mechanics of it and now and when I look across the room, I see support in action. Books being held by a comforting angel.

Who is upholding you? Is it the love of someone who’s faithful and true; is it the strength of someone who, perhaps gone now, never let you down and always believed in you?

By showing up time and again in times that aren’t fun and times that are hard we uphold each other. We need that, like it or not. We can try to pull ourselves up by our bootstraps but to make it through storms that come and go and come again, we need to be championed, supported, heartened. Not falsely propped up with flattering words but upheld by honest truth and with simple grace. Strength isn’t about going it alone after all. Its about being supported by real live people who care enough to be there when we fall as well as when we soar. A beautiful life will involve upholding others as well as allowing ourselves to receive strength and support from people – God’s support system on earth.