Lately I have watched as a couple of my friends have gone through times in their lives more painful than I could begin to understand. One friend was anticipating her wedding day, which was only a month away, when her fiance ended the relationship; and last night, another friend of mine who is 29 unexpectedly lost her father.
Confronted with such sadness, I am struck with how insignificant my thin words and tears are to these women who are suffering so much. There is nothing I can do or say to lessen how hurt they feel. There is no magic prayer I can offer, and in these circumstances of distance, there is not even a meal I can cook or a hug I can give. It is a helpless, hopeless, alone feeling to know that they are in so much pain, and there is nothing to do but wait for time to pass and pray in my closet.