Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice

Passage

"Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion."
Rom 12:15-16 (NKJV)

Pondering

Today something happened that made me wonder how people watching from the outside would react if they witnessed the scene. The reaction would vary from a humorous chuckle through various stages of bemusement or disgust to even anger.

My son, Matthew, who is six years old, called me into the bathroom with a triumphant tone and excitedly asked me to look into the toilet bowl. "Daddy, I did a big poo!", he chirped joyfully. I looked at the brown prize and was extremely happy and congratulated him and even went to tell the other members of the family.

Many seeing this would think Matthew was very rude and naughty to suggest looking at the contents of his bowels and that I was very wrong to encourage him in this prank. However, this was a glorious day of breakthrough for Matthew, indeed for us all. A day to rejoice with him in his rejoicing.

You see, Matthew was born with an imperforate anus, meaning he was born with no anal opening. This has meant that we have had to dilate him regularly to remove the build up of hard poo. Up until this moment he had not been able to do a proper poo by himself. Therefore, this was a very special moment of joy for us all.

We tend to judge circumstances through our own lenses, often not really understanding what others are going through. It is important not to judge merely from our own experience but to try and understand where others are coming from when they do things that seem strange to us. Let us learn to rejoice with those who rejoice, whether their rejoicing makes sense to us or not!

Poem

A day of rejoicing for one may cause others to mock,
But let us have love and get over the shock.
We are all different, each travelling a different path,
So when we feel like reacting let us join in and laugh!

Prayer

"Father, thank you for making us all so very different. However, often we resent those differences and want others to do things like us. Help me today Lord to learn a bit more how to identify with those who are different from me and to rejoice when they rejoice. Amen."