Do you ever feel discouraged? Ever need an uplifting word to bouy your spirits? We’ve all been there, yes? And the encouragers among us can have a powerful influence on our inner world.
Think for a moment about the teachers who taught you the most. Whose lessons linger in your mind and heart long after graduation? Perhaps even long after they’ve graduated from this earthly life. I think of Mrs. Evans in eighth grade, Sparky Brazier who was my first supervisor in farm work, Ella Mae Simon who was an African-American lady and worked for mom and dad. And then there was my aunt Ruth. And I shouldn’t forget Sanford Enslen who taught me photography as a ten year old Boy Scout, or Buck A who led me into AA in Mobile, Alabama. Oh and there was Rev. Linwood Bowdoin, a Baptist minister and teacher. And others. What did these people have in common? It certainly wasn’t school or race or education or theology. So, what was their gift?
They were encouragers. They gave one thing: the encouragement of loving, life-giving presence.
It doesn’t take much, this gift of encouragement. In fact, some the most encouraging “people” right now for my wife and me are our furiends, the four legged children pictured above. And though I sometimes think they’re smarter than a few people I know, they are mainly just there, showing up every single day with their happy dog faces and unconditional love.
Each of us knows the vulnerable need for an uplifting presence now and then. I recently decided to shift to a professional role in my photography. I’ll never forget the words of the Director of Communication at our church when I expressed my uncertain insecurity about that decision; he said, simply and with a warm smile, “You’ve always been professional as a photographer, Madoc.” Encouragement: loving presence.
That certainly is a gift of God in Jesus Christ. It is a gift my wife and I receive from our church and Sunday School class and ministers. It is a gift of good music, a pat on the shoulder, or a Twelve Step group. It is a gift that’s not that hard to give but which can offer something we all need when undergoing the “thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to” (so, Shakespeare.) Encouragement gives the lift we need to bear our life load with grace and a smile and the words of the Little Engine that Could, “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.”