Sustaining Others in Callings

I made a discovery today, The word “Sustain” has several meaningful meanings:

a) Strengthen/Support – the one that everyone thinks about when they think about callings.

b) Undergo/Suffer – maybe sometimes when we “sustain” someone in leadership, all we can do is not speak ill of them and have charity enough to “undergo/suffer” their leadership.

When I first think of the word “sustain” – I think of sci-fiction level wonderful miracles being performed with power being transferred to and wielded by someone in a steady amount – how cool that would be to have that much confidence in someone to give that power or receive that power.

And then I think about how my husband sustains me in our family. He protects my sacred Sunday nap times, cooks food for us (even when he is sick), listens to me, reminds me of who I am and what I can do. He makes sure our oldest uses the restroom every night in the middle of the night. He clears out snow so that I can get to work. He gives blessings to us when socially constrained to do so or when the circumstances call for it. I think the biggest example of sustaining us I can find is last year when he decided to be more respectful and show more respect to all of us everyday. These are not flashy sustaining moves, but they are more powerful than the words I have can convey in our journey learning how to sustain each other.

That brings up 2 (ok 2.5) thoughts:

That to really “sustain” someone in something, you have to get to know them and what they can do, and get a sense of what they are being called to undertake.

And if neither circumstance is possible (you don’t have the resources to get to know them or what their calling entails – no judgement on either circumstance), maybe all you can do is “undergo” the experience(s) with them.