Streams of Comfort

Families to someone like me are somewhat of a paradigm. I grew up in a Hispanic family. Since before I could talk, the importance of family was drilled into me. “Your family will always be there for you, even when all your friends aren’t”. While a part of me agreed with that philosophy, there was another part of me that had a difficult time reconciling the pain I felt during family gatherings. The heavy disappointment that seemed to linger after a family wedding or birthday celebration. These were people that knew me as a baby, yet somehow that didn’t make them immune to hurting me. And vice versa. Maybe the shared blood and marriage bonds leads us to take advantage of our “closest” loved ones.

Don’t get me wrong, I love my family and believe in the importance of family bonds (most of the time). The Bible covers a wide range of complicated family dynamics between Abraham and Isaac, Jacob and his brothers, Moses and Aaron, Ruth and Boaz, and so many more countless examples. God wants us to love our neighbor as ourselves and that includes family. Very simply, we are called to love everyone and that means during the tumultuous times of familial turmoil as well. This poem is born from that pain that I felt during some family encounters, but ultimately God reminded me that He is our Father and He stands for us despite the pain we cause Him.

Stand for those you love.
On the precipice of tomorrow, when they all might be gone.
It’s a temporary pressure.
One that allows me to forget the pain they caused.
The day is coming when they’ll be gone.
I won’t think of the pain then; only numbness to shadow my shattering heart.
So today I stand for those I love.
Not temporarily, but everlastingly.
Like the God who stands for us.

Alice R.