A Mother's Words Prompt The Most Sobering Question

The other week I posted about the importance of tending to your own needs as a leader. I also confessed that I joined a fitness contest with a few thousand other people to see who could burn the most calories, in the month of February. It's been a great challenge for me. I've been out running nearly every day.

During my run yesterday, I found myself faced with a very sobering and challenging question. 

I was trotting down one of Phoenix's busy city streets, where I curiously passed a number of crowded bus stops. I live in one of those communities where you can get in and out of your car in your garage, and never actually have to interact with anyone if you don't want. It was refreshing to be out of my house and around people. 

Near the end of the run, I passed one bus stop that I won't soon forget. It was occupied only by a mother and a young man, who I assume was her son. The two having a heated exchange. As I passed them, I only caught a few of the mother's words. But they were so compelling that I actually committed it to memory to share with you. She looked at her son, who appeared to be in his early twenties and viciously shouted, "Will you just shut the f*@! up!? Why don't you just move the f&%! out, you a$!hole?" My blood curdled at her unbridled anger and disapproval. It was one of those times where she wasn't even talking to me, and I felt bad after hearing her say it. 

I was only a few steps past them when a question jumped in my mind. If I were to stop and say something to these two people, what would I say? Somehow Jesus loves you didn't feel like the right thing. 

For the rest of the day I reflected on their interaction, and what it would take to bring a mother to the point where she would say something like that to her son, or to anyone for that matter. I thought about the kind of pain and fear it would take to drive that kind of anger, and how miserable a life with that level of resentment would have to be. I imagined the son, who learned fear, resentment and anger from his mother. It made me wonder what could possibly be said to two people living such painful lives.

I haven't come up with an answer that helps me feel any kind of peace. Who knows, maybe Jesus loves you is what needed to be said to them. So I'll leave you with the question that's been burning in my mind since I passed those two on the roadside. 

What message do the broken and hurting people all around us need to hear from the church?

Please leave your thoughts in the comment section below.

Cover photo courtesy of Jake przespo at flickr.com