THE WORDS

Some days, the words just do not come. I sit down, try to write, try to pray, try to put my thoughts into something that makes sense, and, well, nothing. I am just a jumble of feelings with no real way to express them.

Maybe you have felt that way, too, lately. Perhaps a lot is stirring inside you, but nothing is clear enough to say out loud. 

Some days, it feels like too much. Too much pain in the world, too much uncertainty, too much heaviness weighing on our hearts.

But here is the thing: we do not have to have the words.

Romans 8:26-27 reminds us, "The Spirit helps us in our weakness because we do not know what to pray for as we should, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings. And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because he intercedes for the saints according to the will of God."

I love that. Because if I am honest, there are many times I do not know what to pray for. I look around at the world — at my neighbors struggling to make ends meet, at folks dealing with addiction, at the loneliness, the grief, the questions — and I just do not have the words.

But God does. The Spirit does.

I think about our existence in Appalachia. It may be slow, but it is not easy. Folks carry a lot of loss, disappointment, and frustration. 

The church has not always been a safe place for everyone, and faith can feel complicated when you have been hurt by it. But still, God is here. He provides us with comfort and peace that surpasses all understanding.

I also look beyond these hills, beyond the fog that clings to the ridgelines in the morning, and I see an aching world. 

I see faith weaponized, twisted into something it was never meant to be, used to harm instead of heal, to exclude instead of embrace, and to uphold systems of power that are antithetical to the very love Jesus preached. 

That weighs on me. It is hard to watch faith, which should be the most beautiful and freeing thing, turned into a tool for oppression.

I do not always know what to do with that. I do not always know what to pray for when I see people suffer under the weight of injustice, when I see faith used to justify cruelty and when I see the vulnerable treated as less than human. 

But even in those moments when my prayers feel hollow, I trust that God is still listening. I trust that He grieves with us, that He sees what is broken, and that He is moving, even when I cannot see how.

That may be where we come in. When we do not have the words, we can simply show up for one another. Galatians 6:2 tells us, "Carry one another's burdens; in this way, you will fulfill the law of Christ."

I see that in these hills. I see neighbors looking out for one another, feeding each other when times are complex, and standing in the gap when someone is struggling. 

We may not always have the perfect words to pray, but we can love one another, care for one another, and remind each other that none of us are carrying these burdens alone.

So, today, I am holding onto that. I do not need to have all the answers or the right words. God hears what I cannot say, and if you are feeling lost for words, too, know this: You are not alone.

Even in the silence, we are being heard.

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