"How many times did we apologize to each other this week?" Caryn asked me the question kind of laughing. It felt like it had been hundreds. I actually had started tallying the conflicts and miscommunications of our team but when the number was so high by Wednesday, I stopped counting. Counting was not helping. The only thing to do was to hang in there with each other.

Galatians 6:2 says we will fulfill the law of Christ by bearing one another's burdens. Continuing to delve into Bonhoeffer's Life Together we see the invitation to what he calls a Ministry of Bearing. "To bear the burden of the other person means involvement with the created reality of the other, to accept and affirm it, and in bearing with it, to break through to the point where we take joy in it."

Taking joy in the created reality of others is not the easiest task. I've been known to say, "everything would be easier if everyone was like me." Lord help us all! I realized again last week that often what I dub as conflicts are just me not getting my way. That's why I had to stop tallying conflicts. My own selfishness and entitlement were becoming so glaring with each tally mark.

Recognizing my need for grace and forgiveness compelled me to hang in there with our team. The temptation is so strong to resist grace, to not admit my need for it. And yet my team keeps extending it. The other temptation is to brush things off, to pretend like nothing happened when I am offended. To act like everything is fine and not speak truth to my brother and sister when they're out of line doesn't seem honest or courageous. So last week we hung in there with each other in our best attempt at truth and grace. On street corners, in church hallways, in offices, and on the phone, we kept stealing moments to apologize and get right with each other.

And here we are at the beginning of a new week. In what situations are you invited to bear with others? Who will you need grace from this week? Bonhoeffer goes on to say, "The service of forgiveness is rendered by one to the others daily...he who is bearing others knows that he himself is being borne, and only in this strength can he go on bearing." Go on bearing. Maybe its not always hard. Maybe it will become part of who we are and how we act toward one another.