I need to write this. Emotionally healthy people can feel opposite emotions at the same time. Angry and hurt, sad and happy, love and hate. This may or may not be a shocker to you. If it is something new to you, I'd invite you to spend time thinking about it. Think about the last time you were angry, think about why you were. I'd be willing to bet it was because someone meaningful to you did something that caused you pain, which lead to being hurt.
I've been thinking about how this applies to our spiritual growth. We are to become like God. We know that God is love. I can't help but think about the Savior on the cross and in the Garden of Gethsemane. We know that He experienced excruciating psychological and emotional pain that caused great hurt. However, it was His love for us that helped Him supersede His circumstances.
I think it is very much the same for us. We all experience pain in our lives. People who should not hurt us, hurt us. People who should be there for us, neglect us. People who should remember us, forget us. People who should be honest to us, lie to us. People who should respect us, disrespect us. It is impossible to catalog the numerous amounts of ways that we can be hurt by those whom ought to know better.
Most likely if this pain comes from our spouses, siblings, parents, friends and children, the pain is hard to escape. Much of our deep soul causing pains never really leave us. For many, this pain is too much to bare. Physical distance, as much as psychological distance is created to numb the pain, but it still resides in our souls.
What are we to do then? Do as the Savior, let His love supersede our pain. Loving those whom have wronged us is perhaps the most difficult thing to do. But it is the only thing that lifts us above the depths of despair and self-loathing.
I think its interesting that the Savior still has marks in His hands and feet. The pain He experienced is still a part of Him. We do not necessarily need to suppress our feelings of hurt or deny them. It's okay to be angry, sad, mad and hurt. Drawing closer to the Savior will allow us grow in love, and those feelings will no longer be at the forefront of our minds.
1 comment:
you blog so rarely that i'm always curious when a new one pops up on my google reader. this was nice...i've always liked that the Savior's scars are still around too, even in his "perfected" state. Sometimes it's our scars that make us perfect, yes? Hope grad school is treating you well.
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