I have written a book that is yet to be published. The book I wrote is called Listening for Joy. In the book I use my life experiences as a wife, mother, and grandmother to reflect on the meaning of stories in Luke’s gospel. I sent the book to several publishers and received rejections from them all. The last publisher did not immediately reject the book but instead emailed me to make an appointment to talk on the phone. I was hopeful as the phone call began, but the first thing the editor told me was that he would not be able to publish the book because it was very uncertain that the book could make money. He pointed out that I am not well known and while occasionally a spirituality book surprises by selling well, it is more likely that people will not discover it or buy it, particularly if the author is not well known. He then told me the reason he wanted to talk to me on the phone rather than simply send a rejection letter. He wanted to tell me that the editorial staff at the publishing house had read the book and not only thought it was beautifully written but also found it very inspiring and helpful. He wanted to encourage me to keep writing. He said, “Your writing can help people.” And he suggested I start a blog. Because that editor did not simply send a standard rejection letter but took the time to call me with encouraging words, I have continued to write.
In Second Corinthians, the apostle Paul begins the thanksgiving of the letter with the words,
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and God of all encouragement.
Second Corinthians 1:3
Two words are used repeatedly throughout the verses that follow. Those two words are affliction (used 4 times) and encouragement (used 10 times). Paul is writing from experience. A painful disruption in his relationship with the Corinthians caused him great affliction but his friend Titus told Paul that the Corinthians longed to be reconciled with him and because of this encouragement, Paul’s affliction was giving way to hope and the promise of deeper communion with the Corinthians.
Paul refers to God as the God of all encouragement and then talks about the way encouragement works. God encourages us in our affliction, so that we can encourage others who are afflicted. We suffer with Christ and are also encouraged through Christ. Our afflictions and our encouragements are shared with the whole community and through this sharing affliction and encouragement lead to deeper communion with God and with one another. God is the God of all encouragement, but God’s encouragement is carried by each of us. Every one of us has the ability and the responsibility to be the source of encouragement for one another. Through us, others come to know God as the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement.
On April 1, 1954, WQED, a public television station in Pittsburgh, broadcast its very first television programs. To thank the people who had worked long and hard hours to launch the television station, Dorothy Daniel hosted a dinner party in her home. She gave each invited guest a small gift to express her gratitude. Young and not yet well known, Fred Rogers was one of the invited guests. The gift he received that night was a small tiger puppet. In a biography of Fred Rogers, Maxwell King writes,
Rogers took this gift as encouragement, and he and Josie incorporated the hand puppet into their first show.
The Good Neighbor: The Life and Work of Fred Rogers
Maxwell King
A small gift of encouragement became a famous puppet named Daniel Striped Tiger. Through this puppet, Fred Rogers would discuss and share many afflictions with his television viewers. Compassionately listening to all the feelings these afflictions might evoke in young children; he would offer them encouragement that would help to heal their inner worlds and bring them into deeper communion with others.
We all suffer afflictions, some very small and some much larger. When we approach our afflictions as pathways to relationship with God and with others, we learn how to listen with compassion. Listening with compassion leads to building up others with encouraging words and actions of love. Our embrace of the practice of encouragement is one vital and life-giving way that God’s grace flows into the world. Through the Father of compassion and the God of all encouragement even our smallest acts of love can heal, protect, guide, restore, and renew hope in ourselves and in others.
