Almost exactly a year ago, I shared an article here about the blessedness of being busy, or rather, of having a well-balanced plateful of uses. Now, I find myself writing this article during an unexpected long-term hospital stay. One moment, I was going about my life as usual, and the next I had to let go of all of my daily routines, chores, errands, and plans. In a blink, the contents of my usually full plate abruptly tumbled from my grasp. 

While this was a shocking turn of events, I am so grateful that the responsibilities and cares on my plate did not crash to the floor. Instead, they were immediately and tenderly gathered up by a throng of angels in training. Family, friends, and neighbors have flown to my family’s aid in various forms: childcare, meals, money, gifts, words of encouragement, prayer, the list goes on. Being on the receiving end of such an influx of care has been a humbling experience to say the least. Sure, things are difficult and not as we want them to be right now, but we are so clearly not alone in dealing with this hardship. We have a village of support. 

One of the most painful aspects of this marathon hospital stay is that I’ve been temporarily displaced as a stay-at-home mom. Never has the old adage, “It takes a village to raise a child” resonated with me more. We are relying on the kindness of family and friends to help us provide the meals and care our children need while I am out of the picture. We would be lost without this village. Even outside times of crisis, I don’t think parents are meant to raise their children in isolation. It is right and good for children to cling to their parents and to look to them first for guidance, but I think it’s also vital for them to experience the mentorship and care of safe friends, teachers, and neighbors. After all, even the best parents aren’t perfect. And the wonderful thing about the human race is that we all have different strengths and uses to share with one another. It’s the same in heaven:

The angelic heaven, which coheres as one, is in infinite variety; not one there is absolutely like another, not as to souls and minds, nor as to affections, perceptions, and thence thoughts; nor as to inclinations, and thence intentions; nor as to the tones of voice, as to the face, body, walk, and many other things. And yet, though they are myriads of myriads, they have been and are arranged by the Lord into one form, in which there is full unanimity and concord, which could not be if all, so various, were not led by One, universally and singly. (Married Love 324)

Doesn’t it make sense that we should soak up the Lord’s love and wisdom through as many different kinds of good people and angels as possible? Doing so, as long as we and the people we allow to influence us are following the Lord in all things, can only help us hone our own reception of His love and wisdom and perhaps inspire us to serve the uses best suited to us. 

“Love and wisdom without the good of use are nothing; they are mere mental abstractions, which are only realized, when they are employed in use. Love, wisdom, and use make an inseparable group of three.” (True Christianity 387.3)

I think finding and nurturing our earthly villages can help us prepare for heaven. It is such a palpable and personal way of both serving the neighbor and being served. That is a key part of villages after all. Every member of the community both serves and is served. Sure, there will be times when one person or group of people require what might feel like an unfair amount of support. But everyone needs help sometimes. And, if the village operates as it should in the Lord’s providence, everything will balance out one way or another. 

Being seen and cared for in our time of need has been a profound blessing. I pray that we will be able to pay these myriad kindnesses forward someday. Thank you, Lord, for good villages. I pray you all have or soon find yours. May you feel supported and seen this holiday season. You are not alone.

Mutual love in heaven consists in those there loving their neighbor more than themselves, and as a result the whole of heaven represents so to speak one human being; for by means of mutual love from the Lord all are associated together in that way. Consequently every manifestation of happiness possessed by all is communicated to each individual, and that possessed by each individual to all. The heavenly form produced by this is such that everyone is so to speak a kind of center point, thus the center point of communications and therefore of manifestations of happiness from all. And this takes place in accordance with all the variant forms of that love, which are countless. (Arcana Coelestia 2057.2)