It’s not just the quantity of our relationships, but their quality that counts. It’s not just how many people we know or how many people we say hi to each day. Rather, it’s letting other people really know us. Relationships are most nurturing when we take the time to form that kind of bond.
The quality of our relationships, to a large extent, determines the quality of our lives. The more challenges we face, the more we need other people. One person in a crisis is a tragedy. Two people in a crisis constitute a support group. A sense of belonging makes people feel cared for, loved and valued. It provides social comfort and a sense of control throughout life’s unexpected twists and turns.
Todd Meyer’s family became his support group when he underwent a difficult time in his life — cancer. “Before I was diagnosed,” he says, “when the doctor told me, ‘It looks like lymphoma and we need to do some lab tests to find out for sure,’ I was in sort of a state of shock. Because here I’m working at a cancer institute doing cancer research, and I’m supposed to be safe from this stuff, you know. But it just doesn’t work that way.”
“When I told my family that my doctor was talking to me about lymphoma,” Todd recalls, “it was difficult, although everybody was supportive. No one took the attitude that this was the end. Instead, people rallied around me and tried to offer support whenever they could. It is very important for family to be involved in healing. We sometimes don’t realize it, but we’re affected by the people around us.”
SPIRITUAL THOUGHT
When family and friends pull together for the ones they love, something remarkable occurs. Grace happens. Healing takes place. It may not always be a physical healing, it may just be emotional or spiritual, but it’s healing nevertheless.
MY PRAYER
Lord, thank You for the people You have placed into my life. Help me be there for them and support them through the good as well as the difficult times. Amen.
