Parakalein

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), often referred to as "Lou Gehrig's Disease," is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.


That is the fact about this disease.  The truth is that it ravages a person's life, his wife, children, bothers, parents, and friends.  A good friend of ours in his forty's with young children has this disease. We are doing the ALS walk in NYC this morning to express our solidarity, our care and our support of him and his family.  In the wake of feeling like there is nothing anyone can do this gives us something to do.  But it is not about doing it is about being with our friend and family.


There is little certainty in this world but one is that caring presence is all we can really offer each other, not wisdom o insights just presence.  Nothing anyone has done caused this tragedy to ascend to Bruce as God does not afflict us with sickness because of anything anyone has done or not done.  I know that because if that were true we would all be sick. God does not cause, direct or allow this kind of pain to come into our lives.  God is present.  God is present through caring acts like walking with our friend.  This is when real faith takes on real action.


So we walk today as an intentional act of kindness and care.


Maybe there is something you can do today not as a random act of kindness but as intentional acts of kindness.  that is when the church is the church, the synagogue is the synagogue, the temple is the temple.  Our Bodies are the temple but inside is the life.


We celebrate the internal and eternal life of our friend as he battles the enemy of the body, ALS.  Supported by family and friends the care of presence wins.