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The Upper Room Daily Devotional -- E-mail
Edition
Brought to You by Upper Room Ministries
A GENTLE PRESENCE
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Job 2:11-13 (NRSV)
Now when Job's three friends heard of all these
troubles that had come upon him, each of them set out from his
home--Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite, and Zophar the
Naamathite. They met together to go and console and comfort him.
When they saw him from a distance, they did not recognize him, and
they raised their voices and wept aloud; they tore their robes and
threw dust in the air upon their heads. They sat with him on the
ground seven days and seven nights, and no one spoke a word to
him, for they saw that his suffering was very great.
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There is a time for everything . . . a time to
be silent and a time to speak.
- Ecclesiastes 3:1, 7 (NIV)
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MY dear friend since childhood had lost her brother to suicide.
Although I had the opportunity to see her briefly the weekend of
his death, our communication became one-sided once she returned
home. Over the following years, I left a few telephone messages
until her number changed. I sent three or four letters with news
from home and the annual Christmas card. But her grief was deep;
she was non-responsive. I prayed for her and for wisdom but let
her grieve with no pressure.
Jewish custom calls for "sitting shiva"
during the first seven days of mourning. Tradition also asks
mourners to refrain from unnecessary talking and allow the
bereaved to initiate conversation. In the story of Job, the
arrival of his three friends reflects this custom. They remained
silent until he began to speak on the eighth day.
When nearly seven years had passed after her
brother's death, my friend called me. All that time, I had
wondered if I was doing the right thing. (Did I write too much?
Not enough?) But after years of silence she said, "Thank you
for being a friend when I could not be relied upon."
Prayer: Lord, teach us how to be present with
those who need comfort, when to comfort with silence and when to
comfort with words. Amen.
THOUGHT FOR THE DAY:
We comfort others by our presence.
-- Paula Geister (Michigan, U.S.A.)
PRAYER FOCUS: Families of those who commit
suicide
Nathan Alan Eisert Foundation, Inc.
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