Candid Response to One who was Wronged

A good friend of mine recently emailed me.  He had been hurt once again by the actions of others.  He and I know one another well enough for him to expect a frank response, of which the following is a portion:

 Remember that the man who has the character to admit honestly to himself and others that he is Hurt – is vastly stronger than a man who is too weak to be real and who masks that hurt with anger. 

You are a strong man.  You are hurt.  Admit it and deal with it on that level.  Don’t let the devil drag you into the insidious trap of being “offended” and ruin precious relationships with an unhealthy display of anger.

And yep.  We try our best to be helpful and people don’t accept it.  That hurts.  Furthermore, people do things to us which are self-centered, narcissistic and hurtful.  We hear it because it is true -- "Crap happens."  It happens all the time.  You are too wise in the Lord to get caught up in wallowing in the crap of others and adding your own to the mix.  Let God lift your emotions above it.

Loneliness Longing

I reflect almost daily upon a truth which Billy Graham has regularly addressed in his long lifetime of messages and writings.  "Loneliness" is what he has experienced as our most common human state. 

 

I read today these words from another author:  "In human relations one should penetrate to the core of loneliness in each person and speak to that." 

 

Within the depths of our soul, we long for God.  "As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, my God" (Psalm 42:1).

 

As we long for God to fill our inmost needs, we long for godly connections with one another.

 

 

 

 

 

Where Healing Power is to be Found

While preparing for an adult study class I read words with which I agree and find quite meaningful. They are written by Gerald May, a medical doctor who practices psychotherapy in Washington, DC.  He conveys the importance of community in the healing process:

"God's grace through community involves something far greater than other people's support and perspective.  The power of grace is nowhere as brilliant nor as mystical as in communities of faith.  Its power includes not just love than comes from people and through people but love that pours forth among people, as if through the very spaces between one person and next.  Just to be in such an atmosphere is to be bathed in healing power."