Today's Daily Lesson comes from Psalm 34 verse 18:
The Lord is near to the brokenhearted
and saves the crushed in spirit.
Yesterday, we spoke to the youth about despair. It's a heavy topic for camp; but it's not an unfamiliar one to these kids. They've lived long enough to know that despair is real and that it can break us of the will to live.
The word despair comes from the Latin "desperare"; it literally means to be "de-spirited" or "de-breathed". To despair is to lose all spirit, all sense of vitality.
As we were talking with the youth yesterday, we told them that the the LORD comes near to those who are broken and crushed in spirit. And the way the LORD usually comes near is through us.
I have always remembered Parker Palmer's account of a period in his life when he went through a very grave depression. He says he was so crushed in spirit that he came to a point of literally not being able to feel. A paralysis had set in in both his spirit and body. The only place he still had any sense of feeling left was in his feet. So, a very close and caring friend came every day for weeks, bent down and simply touched and massaged Parker's feet. He came near and touched the only place Parker could still sense he was alive.
The LORD desires to come near to those broken and crushed in spirit. And he desires to come near through us -- through our hands and by our feet. It's the little things that will make the difference I was telling the youth: a simple massage, the holding of a hand, the doing of a load or three of laundry, walking the dog. These things are what make the difference.
And the difference can be life and death.
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