HAWMC Prompt 13: Comfort One Another

I'm participating in WEGO Health's Health Activist Writer's Month Challenge (HAWMC) in April.

Today's challenge is a meditation on naming blog posts. Pick up a book and choose a phrase or sentence at random - make that the name of today's blog post. I've had a pretty wicked migraine all day, so I'm not sure how coherent this post will end up (please accept this as my warning... and apology).

"Comfort One Another" - Stories of Prayer for a Healthy Soul, Compiled by Christine Anderson (Phyllis Hobe, page 54)

In a society that increasingly encourages independence, it's important to remember that we're here on this earth to offer companionship, comfort, and encouragement to one another... we need each other.

For those of us that live with chronic illness, we need to remember several things. Comfort and encouragement can be found within one's family or circle of friends; but these dynamics often change, when someone becomes chronically ill. Comfort can be sought from one's local community - through church, support groups, hobby classes, etc...

I've found that, for me, some of the most needed comfort and encouragement, though, has come from the online blogging community. Being able to interact and communicate with others that have chronic pain allows for a special bond to be formed, a bond of understanding that is difficult to form otherwise. Each person is able to give however and whatever they're able to, and feel comfortable asking for comfort and encouragement from others (asking for help can be a bit more difficult, see Help: A Four-Letter Word).

There are so many different avenues to both give and receive comfort and encouragement to others. Even though I'm in my home much of the time, I can do things online, send cards, make phone calls (my migraines limit these), and pray.

"Encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing." - 1 Thessalonians 5:11