It’s Easier With Two

Hello Dear Ones,

I promise that I won’t always share winter stories, but this story has been on my mind all day. I had kind of a “crabby day” today. All of us in the world right now are living in a constant time of change and uncertainty, and I guess today the uncertainty achieved some sort of peak, and I just reached the end of my proverbial rope. So, when I reached the end of my rope, I settled in for a bit with a really good book I was reading. I managed to finish reading the book and then met a friend (at a safe distance, of course) to deliver to her two cloth masks I had sewn for her and to engage in one of our “police lunches.”

“What is a police lunch?” you may be asking. Well, just like the police, we pull up next to each other (well, relatively speaking – we remain at least six feet apart), and then we take out our own meals that we have brought along and we proceed to enjoy our meal and conversation.

Between the author of the book I was reading and my friend, I am no longer crabby. Perhaps this is why the story below came to remind. It is a great reminder to me that it is better to work together. And now, the story:

It was during the middle of a January, Minnesota snow storm and the end of my work day at the hospital where I was doing my chaplaincy residency.  The snow that had fallen was the heavy, wet kind of snow we usually see in March.

For whatever ridiculous reason, I had not worn my boots that morning. And now here I was, trying to get across the street without getting my feet soaking wet.  As I stood at the curb waiting for the light to change, I looked down at the street in front of me.  Next to the curb was a pile of slush and beyond the slush was a giant puddle.  As I waited, I attempted to estimate if my short legs could take a big enough step to get all the way across that puddle.

The light changed, and I took a deep breath, stretched as far as I could and took the biggest giant step I could muster.  And……it wasn’t big enough.  I ended up getting a very wet foot and a shoe full of icy-cold slush.  As I crossed to the center of the street, there was once again a big pile of slush.  I took another deep breath, stretched as far as I could and took another giant step, and as I did, an arm reached out from slightly behind me and to my left and grabbed my flailing, balancing left arm and pulled it and me next to a warm body.  I looked over to see a young woman who was now walking arm in arm with me across the street.  As I looked at her, she smiled and said, “It’s easier with two.”  We successfully made it to the sidewalk on the other side of the street.  She let go of my arm, I thanked her, and just like that she was gone. I didn’t even know her name.  As I stood there on the street corner reflecting on what had just happened, I thought, “Hmmm, I think I was just ministered to.”  She had said, “It’s easier with two.” 

As a chaplain I come alongside for a while and walk arm in arm with others for a time.  For that time it is easier with two. As human beings, we come alongside others all the time in an attempt to make things easier. I have seen SO many stories of people helping one another, caring for each other in body, mind and spirit through the rigors and horrors of the pandemic and the isolation it has caused. These stories bring me such hope.

Thank you, dear friend, for making it easier for me today.

May each of you find today what gives you hope even in these difficult times.

And I pray that each of you has someone to “make it easier.”