Lead or Feathers

Have you ever been asked the question: Which is heavier, a pound of lead or a pound of feathers?  And of course the intent of the question is to trick you into saying lead is heavier.  When in reality we all know, a pound of anything is still a pound.  Right?

This will be short I promise.

I ponder that question because pain, burden, loss, betrayal, or even entangling sin (Hebrews 12:1), tends to weigh upon a person.  And from a distance it’s easy to criticize one who is laboring under that kind of weight.  We would look upon their situation and say something like; “Well it’s only a bunch of feathers!”  Versus our shared (yet ignorant) recognition that lead is heavy and surely all of us would crumple under its burdensome weight.  But feathers?  Aren’t they lighter than lead?

Let me tell you.  A pound of feathers and a pound of lead; are still a pound.  They are still the same weight regardless of how they look from a distance.  One can only know the true gravity pull of a pound, by actually bearing such a weight.  And that is my point.

Christ alone is able to look at all the nuances of a burden borne by the broken hearted (Psalm 34:18; Isaiah 61:1-3; Matthew 11:28) and not stand in judgment.  For each of us tends to make all things relative to our own experience, yet that allows for no understanding or empathy to the one who is close to that breaking point; regardless if the weight be Lead or Feathers.

Let me encourage you this hour.  Never look upon someone else’s burden and say that it doesn’t appear to be that heavy.  Because a pound is a pound; be it Lead or Feathers.  Pain is pain, burden is burden, loss or betrayal and even entangling sin are all part of the weight humanity tries to carry, all the while attempting to look like it’s an easy load.  Yet unless we come to Christ, who promises to take the crushing load off our backs, we live with nothing less than the equivalent weight of Lead or Feathers.  A pound is still a pound.

Keep that in mind the next time you mentally judge someone who is close to breaking under the weight of a pound of feathers.  All the while thinking; "It’s not that bad, it’s only feathers... right?"