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“Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.”—ISAIAH 40:30-31 (NIV)

Reflect
I met an honest-to-goodness Tigger recently. (You know Winnie-the-Pooh’s irrepressibly springy and bouncy tiger
friend named Tigger). Pulitzer-prize winning journalist Nicholas Kristof is someone who has boundless, hard-won
optimism, despite all the tragedy, devastation, and genocide he has born witness to. “Any one of us has the capacity to make a difference.” he told me. “It doesn’t solve the global problem, but it’s transformative for some people, somewhere.”24 So start with one small act of kindness, and then two or three more. It all adds up.

Respond
What small hope is rising in you about the one small difference you can make?

24 Nicholas Kristof in “Hope is a Muscle,” September 3, 2024 in Everything Happens, presented and produced by Kate Bowler, podcast, 43:42, https://katebowler.com/podcasts/hope-is-a-muscle/.

Blessing for the ones who bear witness 

Blessed are the noticers.
The ones who see the full story.

Blessed are the attenders.
The witness-bearers.
The story-holders.
The ones who tiptoe to the edge with us,
knowing that it will break their heart, too.
Choosing us anyway.
Blessed are those who are amazed
by a life lived in its fragility,
in its brevity, in its beauty.

Blessed are those who say: “BEHOLD.”
Behold, this is their love.
Behold, this is their annoying habit.

Behold, these are the people they loved
and know so much about
they could clear or implicate in a crime.
Behold, these are their exes,
their favorite karaoke songs,
their fast-food orders.

Behold, they’re not a problem to be solved.
This is a person to be loved.

This is a miracle with a name.
And how lucky are we?
These people.
These loves.
These precious, precious, precious days.25

25 Kate Bowler and Jessica Richie. “For the Ones Who Bear Witness” in The Lives We Actually Have: 100 Blessings
for Imperfect Days. (New York: Convergent Books, 2023). 160-161.

© KateBowler.com