You never know

           How do you react when you see someone you haven't seen for a while and they seem perhaps a little bit cold or withdrawn?  What are your thoughts when you see a friend but they seem distracted or make some fairly obvious lame excuse that they just don't have time to stop and chat right now?  How do you handle a situation whereby one of your relatives suddenly isn't as outgoing as they once were and seem to be avoiding family contact?  What goes on in your mind when one of your co-workers starts "losing it" at work and seems to be turning from friends whom you thought they were close to?
          
           Often, when we run into those situations, we feel hurt or even angry.  Surely we are, at least, a bit confused by the changes we see in those folks.  If our 6th sense is half way keen, we may get the feeling that something is wrong in their personal lives.  But, often our sometimes misguided sense of decency (which may have been tainted by an overdose of political correctness) prevents us from sensitively asking "the questions" that our minds may be presenting to us.  We don't want to pry, and we don't want to invade their space.  Or, we may just be too hurt by their actions and our resultant anger (deep inside) to realize that all may not be as it seems with that person.

           You see, folks may not be avoiding us.  The change we are seeing may well not be out of anything we have done or said to them.  It could well be that there are other things going on in their life that we know nothing about, things that are totally weighing them down and affecting how they do relationship with other folks.  You never know---unless we are big enough to assume that all is not as it seems on the other side of the mask, and are equipped to lovingly be all that we can be for that person.

           Some of the things that may cause those others in our lives to act as they are, are things we may know nothing about, such as:

they may be horribly distracted by a sudden life change

they may be working hard to make ends meet

they are trying desperately to make sense of their situation

they may be too worn out to socialize

they may be dealing with personal pain or illness

they may be tired of having to pretend they are okay when around you

they may be doing all they can just to survive

 

           It is all too easy to make snap decisions about others, and to take things personally.  If we are walking the Christian walk we say we are, when we see changes in people like the examples at the top, we won't be judgmental--we will be compassionate, sensing that there is more to the story.  We won't get snippy with our comments--we will use discernment and speak with love.  We won't feel hurt on our behalf--we will feel hurt for them, we will share their hurt.  And, we will love them to death and let them know that we are there for them as they walk through their struggles. 

 

 

Bottom Line Thought:  If your personal life took a twist for the worst, what would you expect from those around you, the ones who might never know because you didn't want to share that twist?  Would you do anything less for others than you would expect for yourself?