sharing the burden

http://www.usccb.org/nab/080309.shtml

how hard it is to deal with people! people complain all the time, they come to "worship" and their reasons are the least of pure, and sometimes, they're just downright annoying. this reading from the Book of Numbers is exactly how i've felt about a particular community. but read on. i think what happens next is extremely comforting.

Numbers 11:16-17 says:

Then the LORD said to Moses, "Assemble for me seventy of the elders of Israel, men you know for true elders and authorities among the people, and bring them to the meeting tent. When they are in place beside you, I will come down and speak with you there. I will also take some of the spirit that is on you and will bestow it on them, that they may share the burden of the people with you. You will then not have to bear it by yourself.

i think that's beautiful. before conference, i had the blessing of being able to discuss the highs and lows of being a leader with some really wise brothers and sisters. they gave me a bunch of inspiration. but more than that, their empathy towards my situation let me know that any efforts of mine were part of something much greater... even above all of our combined efforts, God is totally in control. for two weeks, i was a witness to what happens when everybody in the room acknowledges that God is in control. for two weeks, i not only witnessed it; i became part of that movement.

now, after conference, i ask God each new day to continue using my hands to do his work, my feet to spread his Gospel, my mouth to proclaim his words, my mind to reflect on his thoughts, and my heart to love as he loves. but what a beautiful thing to know that everybody who lived at the Kildare house is doing the same thing.

we are moved by the same spirit, and that's freaking awesome!