Someone In Your Life Needs Your Encouragement. TODAY.

“Encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with all of them. “  --1 Thessalonians 5:14

“You can do it! I know you can. Just give it your best.”

Sixty-one years old. Almost 33 years into my professional calling. I’ve served churches throughout New England and been a community leader for more than half my life. Yet in spite of all that experience, I still need encouragement some days. Even most days. I need a kind word from a friend. A reassuring “You got this!” from a co-worker. A simple “thank you!” from someone I work for, so I know my efforts are noticed and appreciated.

Encouragement. 

There is something about September and our impending entry into this ninth month that reminds me each year of how important it is to offer encouragement to others, and to confess that we need encouragement too, no matter what our age or station in life. Maybe it is because this is the time when students go back to the classroom and having moved up one more year or maybe into a new school, this can bring on worry and even fear. You know…new teacher. New friends. New classes. Add the ongoing fallout from almost three years of COVID and who knows how the school year will go?! So, what better gift to give a kid or young adult in our lives than the gift of support, letting them know we care about them, and we believe in them and that they are going to do great!

There’s a wonderful and true story about a dad from Louisiana who each morning, for eight years now, has written and then put a short note of encouragement, into his daughter’s brown bag lunch.  He’s penned more than 700 notes and counting! The first was penned eight years ago for her first day in the 4^th grade. "Be nice to others. Not everyone will look like you. Learn to spot the unique and special things in other people. You have the power to change someone's life." And every school day since then each morning brings a new message of hope for his beloved daughter.  How cool would it be for more of us to commit to doing such a simple yet profound act of love for our children, really anyone we love and want to see do well in this life. I know I’d be thrilled to find such notes in my briefcase on a Monday morning! You would to.

Because we all need extra courage some days. It’s not rocket science or complicated psychology.  To encourage simply means to give courage to another.  And that word “courage”, from the French coeur, means “heart” so when we encourage, we literally give heart, give from our hearts to enlarge, and strengthen the heart of another. Imagine how much kinder and more merciful this world might be if more and more of us each day found at least one person to encourage and to build up.

A few years back I struggled with chronic pain in my neck that for some time, doctors just could not solve nor cure.  It was a very dark time. Discouraging. And so, my best friend made a promise to me. She’d call me or I would call her, every single day. We’d check in and she’d help get me through to the other side of my health struggles, and she did. Day by day and month by month. All by encouraging me to be strong and to trust that “this too shall pass.” That she was with me. That she wasn’t going anywhere. And that God was with me too. (Thanks Barb!)

It amazes me how much just one loving word, a single phone call, a quick text, or a thank you note in the mail, can make my soul soar.  Can make someone else’s day. Can remind a person that they are so much more than they might be feeling, especially in a down moment.  Encouragement is like oxygen for the human spirit. Without it, our soul wither and shrink. With encouragement, we can do anything and have faith and trust that we have folks in our corner, cheering us on.

Here's some spiritual homework. When you need some encouragement, begin on that path by spending intentional time with folks that you love and who love you right back too. Let them know if things are tough and that you may need a kind word or an “atta boy!” or “Nice job!” It is only human. EVERYONE needs encouragement and courage, especially for the living of these days, these intense and wild and sometimes very hard days of 2022.

Then look in your life for people who need encouragement from you, right now. Your child or grandchild. Your spouse or partner. Someone who works for you. A homebound neighbor. Heck, how about the gracious woman who serves you coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts in the drive-thru every morning?  They all need to know that you are in their court and on their side and pulling for them. GO! GO!

Who will you encourage this day?  Go forth. Give your heart to another. Make God’s world a more courageous place.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

The Reverend John F. Hudson is Senior Pastor of the Pilgrim Church, United Church of Christ, in Sherborn, Massachusetts (pilgrimsherborn.org). He blogs at sherbornpastor.blogspot.com and is a resident scholar at the Collegeville Institute at Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. For twenty-five years he was a columnist whose essays appeared in newspapers throughout Massachusetts and Rhode Island. He has served churches in New England since 1989. For comments, please be in touch: pastorjohn@pilgrimsherborn.org.