(com=with; passion=pain/suffering; com+passion=suffer together)
"A friend is someone who helps you up when you're down,
and if they can't they lie down beside you and listen."
~ Unknown
To One I Love
First, I'd like to say thanks for sharing with me. I understand that while joys may be openly announced to the world, our hurts are made known to fewer souls. Your trust is something I value and hope I prove worthy of receiving.
Your pain is something I wish I could diminish. I understand that I feel only a fraction of it. But that tiny amount has brought me to tears with its intensity. You do not deserve the rebuke, the unfounded accusations, or the public slander. I can only imagine what's been said privately, that I don't know about.
Your heart was pure. You did everything possible to create a meaningful relationship. You expressed love beautifully, holding back nothing. It was misunderstood and rejected in the worst way. I understand the sting of rejection—especially hurtful when one has loved so deeply. I'm not sure there's any pain worse than loving someone with such abandon, then having it returned with indifference, rebuff, or even outright scorn.
Your hurt of unrequited love will one day be put away. In the meantime, I hope the love I've expressed when we've talked has been of comfort, however little.
I wish I could promise to never fail You. I ask Your continued forgiveness for all the ways I've been the one to hurt You. I'm trying to remember that whenever I'm ignored, rejected, or unjustly accused—whenever my love goes unreturned—that You're allowing me the privilege of sharing Your personal pain.
However imperfectly I do so, I promise I'll never stop loving You, my Beloved Lord.
He came to His own, and His own did not receive Him. (John 1:11 NKJV)
"Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, 'What! You too? I thought I was the only one.' "
C.S. Lewis
Your feedback is appreciated.
Post to BuildingHisBody.com
Image source: frtim.wordpress.com
I like what you've written and I like the ending quote.
ReplyDeleteThat's beautiful, Anne -- and with that surprise at whom it turned out to be.
ReplyDeleteSo beautiful. And I love the image.
ReplyDeleteI went back and read this five times. I'm so impressed with you! This one's worth framing. Thank you Anne.
ReplyDeleteMy precious sis, this touched me profoundly. You are such a bright spot in this world. I love you.
ReplyDeleteBreathtaking, Anne. And I mean that literally--this took my breath away.
ReplyDeleteThank you, thank you, thank you for such a profound expression.
God bless you today.
Anne, thanks for this letter. There are so many times when the world seems very cold...I'm going through one right now. It encourages me to see your compassion and remember the good that God has placed in people.
ReplyDeleteAnne,
ReplyDeleteThis made me cry today. You are a beautiful writer. Thank you for consistently helping me to view a wider picture of God.
~ Wendy
"Friendship is born at that moment...of 'What! You too?'"
ReplyDeleteBeautiful post. Beautiful quote. Thanks for sharing.
I had a friend write that very thing to me yesterday -- I thought I was the only one.
ReplyDeleteWe are never alone when we commit our hearts to Love in God's way.
You have spoken words of compassion to me and I have been blessed. But its funny, as things have been tough recently, how few have actually stepped up. I have always been the dispenser of grace and a good word, but when it's my turn, many turn the other way.
ReplyDeleteSusan ~ There are many days I visit your blog and feel that "What! You too?" Your gentleness blesses me.
ReplyDeleteGlynn ~ I got that past you? I wondered if I could slip the identity of my loved One by readers until the end.
Sandra ~ It took me FOREVER to find an image I wanted to use. How does one capture tears of divinity in my soul?
T ~ If seeing and reading this again will evoke compassion for our Lord, by all means frame it.
Gwen ~ Another definition of compassion I've seen is "your pain in my soul." Thank you for your strength. : )
Wendy ~ It's always about Him. I thank You, Lord, for seeing fit to use me to make Yourself bigger to Wendy. We'll never see enough of You this side of Heaven.
Scott ~ In your profile I sense a burden for ministry quite similar to mine. Hello, friend.
Denise ~
ReplyDeleteYou constantly exemplify compassion in your words. I can only imagine how many tears for others are in your own soul. May the Lord abundantly bless you for the many and frequent ways you suffer together with others.
Rosslyn ~
ReplyDeleteDoes it seem to you that in every gentle curve along the path of life, someone turns a cool shoulder to our shift? Or, when another makes a shift, they resent that we have our own path marked out?
Your small hand enveloped in His warm one is adequate against the cold. I don't always feel that way myself, but I still know it to be true. With these words I remind me too.
Louise ~ Indeed, we aren't alone. Whatever its shortcomings, I love that social media has connected me to so many of God's people, like you. I love time in His Word and in prayer. He is all we need. He is also present in His people, and without having them in my life I'd still be incomplete.
ReplyDeleteDavid ~
ReplyDeleteIt isn't a simple matter to seek out the right person with whom to share when "things are tough." Those with whom we share don't always know how to respond. Also, if people are accustomed to us being a "dispenser of grace and a good word," it may not even occur to them to give rather than receive.
As much as possible, I try to give the benefit of the doubt. I've often been misunderstood. I've too often jumped to conclusions (still do).
Sometimes compassion is dispensed directly from the Lord, sometimes through others. (I'm glad to have been one of the "others" in your life.) Ultimately, all compassion comes from Him anyway.
Awesome and touching letter...let it be so for all of us!
ReplyDeleteBlessings,Jay
Anne,
ReplyDeleteLove the Lewis quote, the image, and your words...words I feel, but somehow can't seem to find.
You are a blessing to so many...to me.
this is deep!!! i think you've definitely succeeded in bringing joy to our Father with post, Anne!!!
ReplyDeleteAnne, it surprised me as well. I loved the way this was presented and it really touched me. I love you and your wonderful words!
ReplyDeleteJay ~ I pray the letter touches readers deeply enough to appreciate the ongoing grief our Lord suffers in apathy and rejection.
ReplyDeleteJeff ~ Thank you for ... for being you.
Bud ~ May it be so! May I bless Him Who has so richly blessed me.
Bridget ~
ReplyDeleteI continue to be blessed by what you share.
I thank you for hosting the blog carnivals. I only wish I could manage to read every single post. I make it to as many as possible.
Anne, I'm always struck by how personal your writing is. It's as if you're sitting right next to me, telling me the very words I'm reading on the screen. I know God treasures such a personal relationship. I pray I can someday communicate with him with the same depth and honesty.
ReplyDeleteFrank ~
ReplyDeleteHow you've blessed me! It is my prayer that being transparent about how personal God is to me may make Him ever more personal to this blog's readers. He is so beautiful, and I want Him to be so in your eyes.
Thank you, Frank.
It takes courage in our present culture to stand up and walk through the sorrowful times with someone. The standard is more what a member of my family said when life became over-the-top intense, "Just blow things off like I did." Well, I refuse to do that. Walking through it with others, just holding on and doing the best to encourage and keep them putting one step in front of the other until the fog has lifted and the pressure is gone... that's sometimes what life is all about. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteCaryjo ~
ReplyDeleteYour words bring to mind that we comfort others with the comfort with which we ourselves gave been comforted by God. (2Cor 1.4)