June 24, 2012
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Taking Care
You know what I woke up thinking about this morning? Well, lots of things, but in particular I started wondering about the phrase, “take care.” Don’t worry; there’ll be no reference to the tedium phrase ‘the dictionary definition of..’s here. Just some thoughts so I can keep writing, keep writing, keep writing…
When I think of taking care of someone, images of service come into mind. Service, and tendering of attention and meeting needs. Breakfast in bed, maybe. Shields. Band-aids. Definitely lots of band-aids. Burly men with names like Aragon or Maximus… OK, I kid…
The word ‘care’ is interesting because it usually evokes good feelings. When someone says, “I care about you,” it’s usually taken to mean that that particular individual thinks about or loves the other. And then there’s the word ‘take.’ Funny how a phrase that evokes kindness and protection includes a word like take, no? But there it is, take. Like when I would take my brother’s candy when he wasn’t looking, or when I was a kid and I took my sister’s science project to school and presented it as my own. Bratty, isn’t it? Meaner, when you think of ponzi schemes and emotional wreckages and if you happened to be my brother or sister during my elementary years.
Here’s the point. Care doesn’t mean love. Care means worries. Care means disappointments, hardships, and sorrow. That’s why the hymn says, “I cast all my cares upon You.” Because we can give Jesus our cares. He takes them and throws them coasts away from where it can find us. Therefore, when we say we want to “take care” of someone, we’re saying that we want to take away their sorrows, their pain, their worries, their difficulties. And often that looks like service, meeting needs, and love. But it’s more than that. In order to take away someone’s hardships, you have to know what someone’s hardship is. You have to invest. Sacrifice. This is a love that is more than just attraction and doting. Further, when you tell someone to “take care,” you’re telling them not to put their guard down, but to be careful since you can’t be there to do it for them. Perhaps the better way to say it might have been, “I’ll take cares from you.” Doesn’t quite sound like what the Care Bears were trained to do… there are no rainbows and glitter here.
I’m going to be a little bit more discerning when I use that phrase now. I used to sign off on emails with a flippant, “take care,” but now… only when I mean it.
