Ever felt alone in your circumstances? Life has a way of making us feel like we are the only ones in the world going through stuff at times. Things happen to us that don't happen to others. Others hurt us while others have great life-giving relationships. We seem to suffer losses disproportionately than all of our Instagram friends. Then an insidious thing happens in our isolation and confusion - we start comparing how we are feeling on the inside with how we perceive others are doing on the outside. It's very human to start to get cynical, get depressed, get mad, or even fatalistic the longer we stew. Earth! So what about earth? Jesus said it is going to bowling-ball your life on a regular basis. What then? What do people around you need? Well if you watch Jesus and his men, they gave people traveling the road of pain exactly what the doctor ordered. What's that you say? A living, breathing, dose of compassion. The message received by those in pain? You have not been abandoned. This is Jesus. This characterized his disciples in the city of Jerusalem? Is this us in our city?
