Life and Hope

What do you say to a friend that is scared she is going to lose her mother and then she
finds out her cousin has just died? What do you say to a friend that lost her job and is
having to sell her possessions just to pay the bills? What do you say to the parent that has
just lost their child? What do you say to a child when her mother chooses the man that
beats her over her own flesh and blood? What do you say to a person when their body
is turning against them? What do you say to yourself when you see so much senseless pain
in the world? What do you say when evil is rewarded and goodness punished?

My heart is aching tonight. My friends are in pain and I don't know what to say to them.
I want to take all their pain away and fix everything that is wrong in their lives. But I
can't. I can't even fix my life and, to tell the truth, it is pretty messed up right now. I
want to take each of them in my arms and tell them that everything will be ok. That
we all go through hard times and some how we make it. But I don't know what is
going to happen. I don't have the power to see what tomorrow holds for them. I
wish I did because then I would know how to help them better. All I can do is be
there for them and help them face whatever is thrown their way.

I like to think everything happens for a reason. All the pain and sorrow we go through
has a purpose. But there are days when it gets to be too much. There are times when
I just want to yell, "Ok! That's enough! She can't take any more right now. Can you
hold back on the trials and let her have it easy for just a few moments? She's suffered
enough for right now. One more thing will break her. Just ease up, if you don't mind?"
It would be nice if we could call a timeout on suffering, but it just doesn't work like that.

It makes me mad to see good people suffer while some people just seem to breeze
through life. They get everything they want handed to them and they don't stop to
think about it. They don't spare a thought about who they hurt to get what they desire.
They don't suffer hardships and they don't help those that do suffer. The world is theirs
and they couldn't care less about the rest of humanity.

I don't honestly know why some suffer more than their share. I wish I did. But it is not
up to me to know why. One day maybe I will know, but for now I must muddle through
the best way I can. And I am going to help those around me as much as I can. I will not
let them give in. It would be so easy just to give in to despair. Why fight when you are
just going to get knocked down again? Why try if you are just going to fail?

I refuse to give up hope. It is what makes life worth living. I hold on to hope and reach
out to help my friends. I can't explain the pain. All I can do is help them face it. I will be
there to listen to them. I will pick them up when they fall. I will be there when they need
me. I have hope that I will know what to do and what to say. Life is not for the weak.
Life is full of pain and tears. It is unfair and cruel. When it is, we must hold on to hope
and hold it out to those that need it. We all have to share hope. It is the only way we
make it through this life.