“To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.”
-C.S. LewisDang. Thanks, Lewis.
When I came across this quote several months ago I was weighing the cost of investing my heart in relationships.
I'd have told you that I KNEW the benefit outweighed the cost for sure, but I didn't FEEL that way.
In this particular season I was recovering from having become attached to a hurting little girl just in time to say goodbye to her and trust that God had control and knew best even if it didn't make sense to me.
Amidst tears and strife, frustration with the Lord, injustice and my circumstances I'm consistantly reminded that relationships are worth it.
I'm still challenged by the concept, but I'm passionate about this truth.
I spent 9 months after college living with 14 messy people. In a super intense setting we did life together - day in, day out - life together. It was tough.
When we're known - realy known...the for better or worse kind of known - we bang up against each other and it hurts. But when we bang up against each other we're sharpened - imperfections brought to light and smoothed out.
Making ourselves vulnerable to anyone is risky. God designed relationships to make us more righteous.
Risk it all.
4 comments:
Surprise... I follow your blog on google reader and love both your photography and entries - but today hit me squarely between the eyes... and trickled down to this heart of mine that's been feeling a little worse for the wear. Thank you for sharing. - Ginger
Thanks for sharing Jess! I remember our good friend, Peter, telling us a similar thing:
"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God."
The very words of God.
I love you friend and please know that I continue to count it a joy to pray for you every Thursday.
i'm glad we get to live life together.
thank you for sharing.
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