The Lowest Point

I was talking at supper tonight
with the friend I met at sliding rock...
how long ago now? Eight years?
Reflecting on the season in my life
when I moved to North Carolina.
When I lost the job I thought I was moving to...
A few weeks later had my dear old cat
Oscar put to sleep on a Wednesday.
My mother died a week after Oscar.
Her funeral was on Friday,
exactly one week before
we loaded the truck for me to move to NC.
At supper tonight
we were pondering the freedom
that comes from living out
your deepest fears and pains.
The thing I remember most
from that horrific time
was the way my friends carried me.
Jan came and spent 24 hours with me
after I lost the job.
Jan and Esther took Oscar to the vet
because I just couldn't.
June and Steve came and sat with me as I cried
with snot all over my shirt.
Countless friends took over all
my overambitious responsibilities
at Annual Conference.
They came to my mother's funeral
and stood with me at the graveside
and ate fresh butter beans at the reception.
A small, incredibly generous army of friends
packed and cleaned and loaded the truck.
When I pulled into the parking lot here
in North Carolina,
my friend from Tennessee was just pulling in,
having preached her Sunday Service
and then come directly to move me.
Six of us unloaded together.
My dear friend Erik
provided me employment within a week of my move.
So many people...
it makes me cry now to think of it.
So much grace in human form.
But the other thing is...
when you hit the bottom,
not much else scares you after that.