Carry each other's burdens

28 Jan 2021 • From Bishop Richard Jackson

Reflecting on the grim milestone of 100,000 COVID-19 deaths in the UK reported this week -- as well as giving thanks for the faithful obedience and diligence of The Very Reverend Michael Tavinor (retiring this weekend after 19 years as Dean of Hereford Cathedral) and Revd Hugh Patterson (who retired recently after ministering to the Morville group of parishes near Bridgnorth since 1974) -- Bishop Richard invites us to consider how we may walk sensitively alongside those who have been bereaved.

He suggests that caring for those who grieve will look like:

• relentlessly available listening for as long as it's needed, rather than speaking too much;
• freely offered practical help;
• an empathic sharing in another's sorrow and thus make that sorrow just a little bit easier to bear.

"Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfil the law of Christ." Galatians 6:2