The most underestimated ministry? That’s easy! The ministry of presence is far and away the most essential, most powerful, yet most underestimated of all forms of ministry. Consequently, it’s the most neglected.
Too often, I see even friends and family members avoid one another because they “don’t know how” to be present or “don’t know what to say.” As a younger man, I was probably as guilty as anyone in avoiding death beds, hospitals and hospices, rehab and assisted living facilities for that very reason.
Older Me wishes I could tell Younger Me that it’s really no different at the end of life as it is at the beginning. No one has to tell an infant or her parents what “presence” is or how to do it, but their need for it is so strong that—if separated for too long—they cry out for it!
Many commentators have pointed out that—amid all the grief and suffering of the pandemic—there were some upsides: people were liberated from exploitive jobs, abusive relationships, or bad habits, and found their way to better ones. But one “pandemic habit” we should resist with all our might is the habit of not being present with those who cannot come to be present with us. During those long months of isolation, we saw ebullient personalities wither like cut flowers.
It ain’t rocket science, as they say. It’s just showing up. All the rest—the rich storytelling, the rejuvenating laughter, the healing connection—all comes only after we first surmount that simple threshold.
Tell me, can you, in all honesty think of a better way to celebrate the resurrection this year?
—Kyle