Its usually a challenge for many people to show love to people when they give you the cold shoulder. there's a quote I love that says: "sometimes people put up walls, not to keep people out- but to see who cares enough to tear those walls down w\ love."
The reason this resignates with me so deeply is because when I was younger I went thru a phase where I potrayed myself to be "unlovable, cold, and anti social". When people would be nice to me and invite me to sit w\ them I would say "no thank you". Why, you ask? Because I felt I couldn't trust people and that they all were out to hurt me. So sometimes I recognize this mindset with others. Though they come off as loners, some of them desire companionship deep down on the inside. There was a girl I used to always speak to who wore dark clothing often, with dark nails and her hair usually covered her face. It was obvious that she wanted to fade into the background. Whenever I would pass her at the college campus and say hi to her she would look at me and frown. This would've discouraged most people, but somehow I saw someone who was only pretending to be unlovable. So I spoke to her everytime I saw her. Till one semester we had a speech class together. She gave a speech about child molestors and how to recognize suspicous behaviors around your children, nieces or nephews to protect them. At the end of her speech she shared a blood curdling memory ofher sister being molested and how by her seeing her big sister go thru that how helpless and hurtful it was for them both. She broke down at the podium and cried and I handed her klennex as the professor instructed me to take into the hall. Once we got outside, I told her that her speech was going to help someone to prevent that from happening to the youth in our families and I hugged her. She actually hugged me back and I asked if I could pray w\ her and we joined hands in prayer that our classmates would remember this day and speech and spread the word to prevent other children from being sexually abused. Then to also strengthen those who already have been molested to share their stories to help give others hope and tools to help others.
To this day me and Heather are still good friends. Though we come from different walks of life, we enjoy different things we share a common ground that we are both two people who made the conscious decision to allow others to love us, as we bravely allowed ourselves to love them back.
Love can be risky business, but overall God has opened my eyes to see how as Martin Luther King said it "only love can drive out hate." Some of us have had anger in our hearts that turned into pure hatred for the people who misused us or made us sorrowful. Yet, when I stopped giving people that much power to make me upset, I was liberated in my mind. Like Christ though they mocked him, ripped flesh from his body, slapped a crown of thorns on his head, he still prayed for them "forgive them father, for they know not what they do." It takes way more strength to pray for an enemy, then to get revenge." I believe in second chances. God forgave me of the evil ways I had in my youth, and gave me a second chance so how much more can he free someone else from their evil ways just as he did with me. With mortal men there are limitations, but with God the possibilties are endless.
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