Ouch! That Hurts

I don't subscribe to much online. I hate that stuff getting my inbox all junked up. However, the best thing I've signed up for is Calvin and Hobbes emails. You can sign up here. That are a riot. However, this week as been more to the heart for me. Less laugh and more hhhmmm.

It's funny what God uses to speak to us. Burning bush. An ass. Creation. My kids. My wife. His still small voice. A comic strip? Yup, even that.

I realize that the humbling act of owning up to the pain we inflict and words that we wound with is so very hard to do. It's personal and painful...painful for us and painful for those we've wounded. But it's huge for our hearts and cleansing for our souls. It's personal because we have to wade through our shit to figure out why it's so hard for us to do - at least I know I do. It's personal because I make myself vulnerable by dying to self so that I can communicate that this is not about me saving face, but doing what is right and loving for your sake, for our sake. Isn't the strip below so true of the difficulty reality of owning our crap?



I also realize that as much I we as people have been indoctrinated into the thought that "sticks and stones can break my bones, but names will never hurt me", well, it's just a big fat lie. We are only fooling ourselves. Oh, how I've hurt those near and far from me with my words (and sometimes lack there of). And, oh, how I've been hurt with words (or lack there of) is so evident, too. And what's crazy is that titles those words have been spoken by - in the name of Jesus, truth, rights, justification, and keeping it real. That's why I love this strip.



Who are the people in my world that I need to seek forgiveness? Who do I need to forgive? What about you?