Bearing crosses

It was quite a gut wrenching feeling I got as I read off the words under “Religious Views” in my friend’s Facebook entry. It read “I believe in God, but he doesn’t believe in me.” That, together with a line of a song’s lyric that played on the television that went something like… “I called Jesus, but he put me on hold.” Now that’s gotta hurt.

Wished I had some words of comfort to offer my friend back then he shared a little of how his girlfriend had upped and left, leaving him with a broken heart. But honestly, I guess I didn’t want to sound off being crude since I’m not much good with words, except for those in my mind.

See, as much as it feels noble and all that, one’s happiness cannot hinge on someone else. Unless we can all find that solace and reassurance in being ourselves first and foremost, to harbour all hope, happiness and meaning on another person is not only unhealthy, it is downright cruel.

Think of it this way. No one is built to be the foundation for another person’s existence – that job is God’s and God alone.

Also, unless we ourselves begin building our own mental immunity system to withstand the ravages of the daily grind, we will constantly be at the battlefront, determining a fight or flight without some time for rest. Now, that can be truly wearisome.

So, my friend, please spend some time to appreciate and to hold yourself to a higher esteem than you have right now because that’s the time when we get to rebuild our defenses, our immune systems and wage a good battle in the daily war.

Start respecting yourself and don’t harbour hope for someone else to take up that cross on your behalf, especially more so if its someone that we love. We all have to bear our own crosses.