LOVE MATTERS
Consider strolling through Walmart on a busy day, the aisles are packed and people are literally elbow to elbow. Your clairvoyance is about to kick in. You encounter the young mother of two, thinking to herself, "how am I going to be able to afford enough food to feed my kids, my job has cut my hours". Your heart immediately starts to ache when you encounter the elderly gentleman that is just standing there blocking your path, yet you hear his emotional plea as he tries to come to grips with placing his wife of 58 years in a nursing home for Alzheimer's. Good grief, you think to yourself, I'm already wore out and it has only been a few seconds.
You realize quickly that you need to find an open space to simply breath for a few minutes. Those two encounters were so overwhelming that you already had forgotten that you were whining and bitching in the parking lot because of how far away you had to park. While gaining your composure a rough looking teenager walks by. You sense the anger inside him as he tries to come to terms with being viewed as different, an outcast. He pauses for a brief moment, yet long enough for you to be over taken with his emotional turmoil. You feel the hormones of rage, his need to escape, his bitterness towards life, and his feeling that no one really gives a crap about him. Thank goodness he moved on. As you stand there, it becomes clear to you, how often you judge people without having a clue what is truly going on inside them.
At this point you decide you just can't do this anymore, you search for your least populated way out. As you turn to make your exit you are overcome with grief. A young lady is standing aimless texting, with no idea who or what is around her. Her heart is heavy with sadness, she just got the news that her mother was diagnosed with terminal cancer and her parents just went through a tough divorce. She decided it was time to run out the door to get away from all the wounded souls that she was surrounded by. Walking through the automatic doors the man walking in got close enough for her to feel his heart. He was trying desperately to juggle two lives. He was in love with a woman that wasn't his wife and the walls were closing in. Thank goodness he got out of her space quickly and she was able to make it to her vehicle and drive away. My gosh, she thought, all that in less than five minutes.
On the drive home, her heart still hurting, her head still spinning, and her soul still yearning, she suddenly felt she wasn't alone. No one was in her vehicle and no one was within ten feet, yet the feeling was so profound it could not be ignored. She was feeling the presence of God. No words were exchanged, it was just the feeling that God was within ten feet of her and he too was experiencing a heaviness of heart.
Not realizing time, she had sit in her driveway for two hours. In one day, she had gained a totally different attitude towards life. Her cynicism over trivial issues had dissipated. Her bitterness towards politics suddenly seemed to small to matter. What was important now was love, understanding, and compassion. In no way was she attempting to make a comparison to herself and God but in some very small way she understood how the creator must feel.
Can you imagine how much the world could be changed if we just tried to love one another? I think it is beyond our ability to grasp what the possibilities could be. So many people are prisoners in their own lives. Not by choice as much as by the parameters society has placed on them. Few, if any, can share the depths of their hearts without fear of retribution. We all sin, certainly in different ways, but sin none the less. We go to great lengths to condemn the actions of others while defending our own. This in and of itself creates a vast divide that is difficult to bridge. Change starts with you (me). Conversion of heart is a powerful thing. Letting go of ideologies that have ruined relationships is a wonderful beginning. Start anew, place light and love back into your heart, illuminate that which is dark, build a bridge where there was once a ditch, and share a sign of peace with those of whom you do not agree.
It's probably a good thing we do not have the gift of clairvoyance. Many feel as though they can sense the hurt in others, and possibly they can, but no one can feel the true depth of hurt that resides in the hearts of people of whom we come in contact daily. The reason we can't feel those pains, is because we assisted in putting them there. I can't imagine what God feels for us, but in my heart I believe it is a love stronger than we can conceive. Let's strive to open our hearts and mind to let the love in that was placed inside of us at birth. Let's stoke the ember so it can become a flame. Together we can change the world one heart at a time.
In closing, I know your heart is hurting in ways only you are aware of. You are hiding secrets so heavy that you fear that exposing them will cause great harm to you and others. Yet the burden is weighing on you and no one seems to care. I want you to know that your life matters, your happiness is important. Remember just when the caterpillar thought it's life was over it transformed into a beautiful butterfly. It is my sincere hope for you that you know that you are loved. I am not clairvoyant by no means, I just feel that behind many smiling faces are wounded souls. If we can all start caring and loving and accepting, we can cure so many things that hold us down.
God bless
Dale
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