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I read about it in a book, which curiously claims to possess a face. She has entered a race and will be running today. When I saw the words I couldn’t help but smile. How remarkable life is–yet how few times we remark. Curious.
Because when I met her, she wasn’t walking. Actually, she was barely crawling. She had been beaten down by a man who was supposed to lift her spirit up and praise her for her beauty and uniqueness. He didn’t. Absent a soul of satisfaction, he continued to ransack her self-confidence and joy to feed his insatiable need for approval.
She didn’t hate him. That was the profile she selected in a moment of weakness, trying to be loyal to somebody who had already abandoned her. It left her destitute of options and emotionally raped. For emotion? She had none. She wasn’t allowed to have any–because her feelings might have sprouted a bit of dissatisfaction which would have been completely unacceptable to her aggressor.
How do you free a prisoner who is chained to her captor? You can’t. She has to find the key and she is the only one who can relieve her imprisonment. Yet you can encourage her to use the key.
So I did. I just asked her to feel again. I listened.
Nothing of any quality happens in the human experience without the freedom to feel without being ashamed.
Once she tapped a well of emotion, trapped in a cave-in deep in her soul, she realized that her unhappiness would not only prevent her from joy but eventually would also be her undoing. She got free. She left her abductor and became a soul who was no longer a hostage to aggravation.
She was so grateful that she wanted to come along with me and join my efforts. I denied her. She was confused and felt I was rejecting her as a person, when actually, I was merely passing on an opportunity to become her new master. She didn’t need a master. She didn’t even need anyone who resembled a master. She certainly didn’t require another human being to be her source once again. Reluctantly, I moved on, having accomplished my portion in her redemption.
She stumbled for a time. We must always remember–it is not our job to keep people from falling on their faces. For after all, there is no way to learn how to get up without first falling down. I always encouraged her–but I never manipulated her. I always respected her–but I never demanded that she return in kind. Step by step, she grew older and wiser, until finally she found her feet and began to walk. At first she stayed in contact out of a sense of loyalty, but soon her ability to move took her away from me.
And now I hear she’s running in a race. Today. She has gotten herself in shape, she has exercised, she has mobilized and she is ready to compete.
I am thrilled.
Because most people want to sit around and sing “Amazing grace! How sweet the sound.” It is a wonderful sentiment–but I think when God sings, His song is a bit different. I think that as a good father, benefactor, savior and kind heart, He looks down and sings: “Amazing people! Who have accepted My grace.”
She’s running today. Did I mention that?
Amazing.
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