Recreate

The last few days were brutal.  I have removed the arrows but blood is still dripping from parts of my body.  Even sympathy offered by peers was wrapped in mystery because information that could have been useful in my defense and recovery was been withheld.  Additionally, I have lost, for a time, someone who truly cared and loved me.  It is easy to wonder if friends are standing by.  It is easy to confess that I have felt death’s sting and relationship’s arid wasteland.  Yet I return to home, love, and unconditional acceptance and I know the healing recreation that will occur with time positions me to follow a model set long ago. 
 
I know the hours of pain, frustration, and wonder in my life are no different from yours.  Death strikes the innocent as well as the guilty.  Selfishness is a web creeping into every relationship, tearing and ripping the fabric of our souls in ways that we never imagine.  The need to belong, to feel part of another’s life, has been toyed with too often and easily.  If one takes the time the one need only look into the eyes of the people you meet to see the details of what I have casually captured in words.  The intensity, depth, and magnitude of how hearts hurt transcend understanding.
 
The model is simple.  “Jesus went across to Mount Olives, but he was soon back in the Temple again.  Swarms of people came to him.  He sat down and taught them.”  (John 8.1, 2)
 
Yet, I am being recreated.  I experienced a renewed sense of hope as I shared a meal with friends going through a different hell.  They reveled in life, friendship, and beauty.  I found myself at a loss for words when another offered compassion who I know continues to battle intense pain months old.  Intense, compassionate mercy and love were simply put on the table without thought of compensation.  I came home exhausted, battered, and damaged to be wrapped in their love extended unconditionally, without measure.  God offers recreation to each.  Carpe diem.