come back

grace.
mercy.
forgiveness.

you have been offered them all freely

family.
love.
safety.

people have offered them to you because of what they have received

...

but you have turned them away

were you too scared of what it all meant?

have you been alone for so long that community disgusts?

...

there is still grace for you. mercy is yet extended. forgiveness continually offered.

what is family if they leave? what is love if not enduring? what is safety that harms?

...

come back my friend

another self-convincing argument

in response to yesterday's post: self-convincing argument - I have a few more thoughts.

one - seemingly, what I observe in this life inevitably becomes a mirror with which I view myself, thus subjecting myself and anyone reading this to these critiques, directly or indirectly as they may be.

two - I am an advocate for self-convincing argumentation.

case in point -
I may not feel loving
I may not want to be hopeful
I may not be naturally joyful

but I choose to be these things (not always, lest you think I have delusions of grandeur)

I argue with myself daily to choose.

thus, I begin to believe what I'm saying. I begin to buy what I'm selling.

and most of all, against my shadier inclinations, I choose to be loved.

entirely unromantic

I am married. and have been that way since May 17, 2003.

for some, that may seem very brief. for some, that may seem very long.

it is what it is.

I love my wife.

I choose to.

not because she is beautiful, though she is. not because she is talented, though she is. not because she loves me, though she does.

but because I choose to.

I chose to and will continue to choose to.

this may seem entirely unromantic and maybe it is. but love is so much more a choice than it is feeling.

today, I choose to love whether I feel like it or not.
I choose to speak in love, I choose to act in love, I choose to be in love.

...and she makes it so easy

you are loved.

even with everything you've done.
you are loved.

even with everything that's been done to you.
you are loved.

even if you want to be or not.
you are loved.


...but you don't really believe that, do you? always skeptical. always cynical. jaded because you 'know better.' calloused because you've seen different.

regardless of your opinion, demeanour, or attitude - you are loved.
regardless of your acceptance of that love - you are loved, nonetheless.

enjoy it, revel in it, embrace it.
and having been loved - give it.

you are loved.
...but you don't really believe that, do you?

rejoicing & mourning

life is simple...

albeit extremely complex - yet simple.

I'm not saying it's easy, but it is simple (there is a difference)...more simple than I had once thought.

- we rejoice/ we mourn

Admittedly, sometimes our natural inclination is to:

- be secretly jealous when something good happens to someone else: "how come nothing good ever happens to me?"

- be secretly happy when something bad happens to someone else: "well, I'm glad that didn't happen to me."

How selfish, no? How love-lacking it is to respond in those ways...

We walk through this life, seemingly stumbling at times, groping our way in the dark. Things happen - good things, wonderfully joyous things; and bad things, horribly mournful things. These things have happened to you. These things will continue to happen to you.

Just to let you in on a little something: these things have happened and will continue to happen to the people you co-habitate this earth with. You know this...

When these things happen to those around you (and they will), what will you choose? Secret jealousy and/or happiness.

Or will you choose the higher/ harder road?

Rejoicing with those who rejoice and mourning with those who mourn.

Life may be more simple than you thought. Rejoice and mourn and forget about yourself for a moment.

...and as you do, you may even find yourself loving. I pray you do.