My friends, you were chosen to be free. So don’t use your freedom as an excuse to do anything you want. Use it as an opportunity to serve each other with love. All the Law says can be summed up in the command to love others as much as you love yourself. – Galatians 5:13-14 (CEV)
From “For Weary Caregivers” by Meta Herrick Carlson
The good work of care is never done.
The accomplishment is too raw
to see with the naked eye,
this love that suffers for another.
I am showing up again today,
and that is holy.
It matters that I do,
even when there are no witnesses
or grateful words.
The work of caring for another, whether that person is ill, homebound, or young, is a wondrous work of love. It is also incredibly draining and often invisible. So many give years of their lives dedicated to caring for a loved one. It can be easy to forget about those who do this. Yet, they have given themselves to a work of holy care. Such caregivers are essential to our world and continual sources of insight into the depths of love that is a hallmark of God at work. Let us pray for those who give themselves to such service. Let us give thanks for them. Let us remind them of the holiness of what they do. And let us support them in whatever ways we may be able.