Of the Same Ground

               I sit in a chair all day. I sit in a chair across from a couch. That is my workspace. On that couch sit so many, many people. Children, teens, preteens, grown men and women, single people, divorced people, cheaters, liars, thieves, Nazis, liberals, conservatives...Seriously, you name it, they sit on my couch. They sit, I sit, they talk, I listen.
 
                You cannot imagine the kinds of things people will say when you create the space for them to say it. You cannot imagine what goes on inside of people when they are free to talk about what goes on in their hearts. I mean, a Nazi...a real Nazi opened up their heart and let me look in...
Gah...the stuff I got to see. Well honestly you wouldn't believe it, you just wouldn't.
 
               You wouldn't believe it because its the exact same thing that single moms of five kids say. It's the same thing that married Jewish couples say. IT'S THE SAME STUFF. The same kinds of things that a stinking Nazi felon thinks and feels after serving time for murdering two people are the exact same types of things that a struggling single mother of five thinks...
 
"Why can't I get it right?"
"Why do I hurt so much?"
"Why do people leave me?"
"Why does no one love me?"
"How to I end my pain?"
 
Same thoughts, different brains.
Same feelings, different stories.
Same problems, different solutions.
Same journey, different detours.

I'll admit some things to you now. I started thinking about this because one of my clients talked about being condemned to hell by an aunt. Aunty was bold, she honored her beliefs. She "spoke the truth" no matter how hard it hurt someone. She felt right. She felt loving. Her nephew felt like shit.

Who am I that I should condemn another person? Who must her God be that he could operate with less compassion than someone like me?

My conclusion?
Maybe she is right. Maybe the idea of hell and condemnation is as real as Niagra Falls. And maybe a just God sends people there on the reg.

But, if I, in all of my ignorance and foolishness and pettiness can look at a Nazi punished for double homicide and think..."What a beautiful human being." Of how much more grace and compassion is the Divine capable?

God only knows, eh?

"judge not. for that is my gig, not yours."
God.

 
 
 
 
 

Comments

Jeffery said…
This is beautiful. I just adore you.
10:50 AM
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