Today's Responsorial from Psalm 137:6 refrain sticks to my heart: "Let my tongue be silenced, if I ever forget you!"
It wasn't during school, it was after school. It wasn't because I was the most well-read, the most clever, it was simply because I was simply there. His head was down, face facing the ground, and his back against the tiles of the basement hall walls of school.
It was after 3pm, the bells were quiet, the after-school sports team were out on the fields. I rushed down the basement stairs to get my sheet music from the choir hall and almost didn't stop for him.
It was the heave of his shoulders that made me stop. It was the little sound that came forth from his tired mouth. It was the recognition of a familiar posture: tired, lonely.
When we spoke and I heard his story, I hesitated. Do I bring more out? Do I share my faith, my belief that God loves him regardless of the mess of his choices, the pain of his circumstances? If I forgot God, if I bypassed the discomfort of sharing something maybe unpopular, what would that mean?
Sister, if you're tempted to zoom past an opportunity to forget to include the Lord in your day, your conversation, your relationship, think again. He will not press in where He is not invited. Invite and include Him, now, this second, each moment of your day. He transforms each moment of loneliness, each instance of pain.
We are never alone. I told that to my friend that day, in the hall. I'm telling it to myself and you, today.
It was the heave of his shoulders that made me stop. // @WholeParentingClick to tweet
Listen to these conversion stories. Reconvert your heart today.
Nell O’Leary is the Managing Editor for Blessed is She, an attorney turned writer, speaker, and editor while tending to her husband and five kiddos. She also facilitates our community groups as she loves helping women find sisterhood. Her undergrad is in English from University of Minnesota and her J.D. from Ave Maria School of Law. Notably, she can down a hot cocoa in two seconds. Find out more about her here.
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