So, once on the curb, luggage in tow, I returned my friend's call as I waited for John to come swooping by for me. It was one of those moments then. . . when the pain of a dear one takes your breath away, pain that feels so real it's like choking.
The next morning I called my friend, "I didn't sleep much, feeling kind of dizzy with a cranky ear this morning, I'd better not drive over to your house--but I'm here, you know."
Then as an afterthought I texted her. . .
"I almost didn't tell you that I lost sleep over your suffering last night because I know you don't want to be the cause of my sleeplessness! But I decided to tell you anyway because I'm learning that God wants us to nurture a culture of mutual burdensomeness within the church. I bear your burden not because it's a duty but because I love you and because Jesus bore it all. . ."
The brother is a burden to the Christian precisely because he is a Christian.
For the pagan the other person never becomes a burden at all.
He simply sidesteps every burden that others may impose on him.
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Life Together)
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