“It's supposed to be hard. If it wasn't hard, everyone would do it. The hard is what makes it great." - A League of Their Own
I was watching Our Flag Means Death tv show, tonight, and in one part of it one character asks another what it is like to be in love. The other one said it was when it was easy. I liked the scene up til that point, but hearing that both bothered me and led to this blog post. I think that most people reading this blog would not see anything wrong with that quote, and that is why this blog post is important.
Over recent weeks, I have been reflecting on what makes something real to the core of our being. What I was ultimately concluding was the exact opposite of that quote. I have lived my life in many situations, and when it is easy... it is easy to be a part of it. I've been in situations where I thought that everything was secure and right... til it got hard. I don't just mean relationships. I look back over my life, right now. I can think of many friendships, workplaces, and more that seemed like they wuold remain, forever. Then.. it got hard. Sometimes, that caused others to exit. Sometimes, it caused me to do so.. to my shame. Sometimes, it was both.
I've had friendships end, because there were political differences. I have had friction happen in families, because of uncomfortable situations. I have faced poverty, illness, and much more in my life. What I have seen is that those that care for you or you for them, struggle does not mean an end to how they or you feel. Indeed, if you care, you care for them in their struggle. You care for them when they are not pleasant to you. You care for them, when they have nothing to offer you in return. That is when you know that it is true care. It remains, long after reason tells you there is no benefit that it remain.
In the movie quoted above, the player tells the coach that they can't do something, because it is hard. The coach played by Tom Hanks tells them that it is the hard that makes it great. Indeed. The Bible tells us that God tests those that He loves. It also says that God causes us to face trials (by the devil) as part of God's plan to refine us. In fact, it is often through loss and pain that I have grown the most in my life. If it was easy, I would never have grown. And, it is those moment that you face trial that you know the most that an emotion or a commitment is true. You cannot know that without the trial or struggle.
So, this post is simply to say this. If it is easy.. my advice is to be most unsure and when you see comfort and security in struggle, that is the most sure sign that you can have peace. That's why wedding vows always were made to say... in SICKNESS and in health, for richer for POORER.. and so on. Struggle and hard is not a sign that something is wrong. it is a challenge for you to step up and prove the truth of something and make something more real than it is when it is just.. convenient.
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