When you have to carry something you didn't choose

Caring for a sick relative, getting a job done that nobody wants, holding together a situation you didn't cause. Many burdens arrive like that, without asking permission, and it's fine to admit they're heavy. But you carry them differently when you discover you're not carrying them alone. Simon of Cyrene was forced to carry Jesus's cross, and on that journey he didn't choose, he was the one who was closest to him. What starts as an imposition can become the place of an encounter. You don't have to like the burden. It's enough not to carry it alone: Christ goes ahead, and you help him.