Hearing the Hurting

Today's Proverb is 19:6
"Many seek favor from a ruler; everyone is the friend of a person that gives gifts.

The picture above is me trying to find Dinah, an Old Testament young lady that was only mentioned long enough to tell her story of surmised rape. I don't know why my head meanders where it meanders, but somehow I linked these two together.  So many times woman are not heard and money and gifts speak louder than the truth.  Power and prestige are valued more than a hurting young lady.  A little bit of Dinah's story: She struck out into the land of Canaan one day to seek out other young women of the area.  The prince, Shechem, saw her---seized her ---and raped her. You can check out the full story in Genesis 34.
Dinah, after all these years, was a pawn in a power game. Today my prayer would be that we bend a little lower and we listen just a little stronger----to hear the stories of those that are hurting.   I pray that we can validate their pain and sit next to them for a little while , while the world continues to turn.  To be able to say, "I see you, I hear you, and I am so-so sorry."