Love is always the answer

The following is a poem my mother read to me when I was young.  I apologize, I don't know the author.  (Perhaps if you do you could tell me so I could give proper credit to them).  The message of this poem is closely related to the last post.

He drew a circle that shut me out,

Heretic, rebel, a thing to flout,

But love and I had wit to win,

We drew a circle that took him in.

I am still learning this over 40 years after hearing it.

Hurting people hurt people.

Hurting people hurt people.

(This was one of the first "wow" thoughts I learned from my pastor).

Judge not and you will not be judged.

For the measure you give will be the measure you get.

And how can you say to your brother or sister, "Here, let me take that speck out of your eye" while all the time there is a log in your own eye.  You hypocrite!  First take the log out of your own eye so that you will SEE CLEARLY to take the speck out of your brother or sister's eye.

If someone is hurting you, you can respond naturally and believe they are the problem and they need to fix it so they stop hurting you.  That is having a log in your own eye.  If you want to respond super-naturally, you look past your own pain (remove the log) and focus on them and you realize they HAVE a problem, THEY AREN'T the problem.  (Now you see clearly so that you can take out the speck in their eye).  They are in pain, scare, hurt, threatened, frustrated, their goals are being blocked, etc.  Let them know that you are not going to abandon them now when they need you most.  Let them know that their problem is our problem.  Let them know that nobody gets left behind.  We either make it together or WE DON'T MAKE IT AT ALL.  Then we get under their load WITH them (not in place of them).

It is in reaching down to lift up the weak that the greatest strength flows through us to them and builds us and them.