An invitation to love…that kind of love?
To expose ourselves by saying our opinion out loud is courage.
To expose ourselves by revealing our true feelings, good or bad, is trust.
To expose ourselves by standing for those who are hurt, those who are victims and standing even for aggressors surrounded by their own darkness… is love.
With his blog titled: “The Nature of Darkness and Light“, Alex has poured out, in my opinion, a lot of courage, trust and love. It initiated a wave of reactions among you guys and even among us here at the YFE HQ. It made me think a lot…
When we see hatred and violence around us or in the news, our natural reaction is to be horrified by the actions of the people behind it, condemning them and wanting to a get a conclusion to the story as soon as possible… wanting “justice” to be served, desiring to see someone “pay” and then hoping for the story to disappear so we can go back to our normal lives, safe, peaceful… I don’t like my life to be confronted or shocked! In our instant-360 degree-24/7-media reality, avoiding to see human inflicted atrocity is next to impossible… So we developed another way around: apathy and desensitization. We can see, but we forget, we hear, but we don’t pay attention. With his blog, Alex reminds us that we have a responsibility to love, not only the cute babies and the cool people, but to make the “decision to love the unloveable”.
That decision involves so much…no wonder we all struggle when it comes to that avenue! Loving the haters means overcoming our own fear to be rejected, it means working on US. It means actively and repeatedly seeding hope, care, inclusion, maybe without any visible return on our “investment”. It means exposing ourselves to pain in order to reach out to the human being behind the monstrous acts. That kind of decision is not one to take lightly but Alex invites us to “incarnate that true love and embody the changes and transformation we want to see in others”. In my last blog I told you I feared to be rejected… well, I realize that if I don’t kill that fear I can’t love for real those I pretend I want to see free. By accepting the status quo in my life, I just join the “voluntarily-blind” instead of joining those who desire to make a difference in this world…starting with their own life.
I don’t know for you, but my best tool to stay alert, is to let others impact me, confront me, push my limits. That’s why Alex’s blogs are so precious and that’s why he allows all of us to impact him as well as he wrote his last blog entitled : “The Measure By Which We Define A Man“. Are you willing to expose yourself and let his words confront, touch, heal or penetrate your heart? I know this is what I will do right NOW! Let’s go there together 🙂
-Miss Isabel
Tags: Alex Foster, Miss Isabel
Comments (8)
Marcel B.
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I really admire you for your strength my dear sis!!
You so often say that you’re afraid of getting rejected but still you open up so much, in front of so many people, every week through your blogs.
Never forget Isa, here no one will reject you because here is your home and here are the peopel who love you!
And i know you will overcome your fear, i believe in you!
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Elizabeth
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Dear Isa!
I read your blog when it was first posted and have been pondering it “on and off” since then…I just read Sean’s comment again and he makes a very powerful point – “hate was once a form of love that no one accepted, no one acknowledged”. And yes, i agree with him that we are surrounded by “demons and angels” – voices of darkness and light, and we are certainly impacted by both. So “loving” in the ways that we are being challenged to do by Alex’s and your most recent blogs most certainly involves a battle in our minds and hearts – with our own natures and outside forces as well. Sean mentions “balance” too and that is an illusive condition that I find myself seeking more and more – this balance between self and others. If we completely lose ourselves, we really cannot be of help to anyone else, unless perhaps we completely lose ourselves in the mystery that is the force of LOVE that encompasses us all. You and Alex essentially quote Ghandi with the words “embody the changes and transformation we want to see in others”. That really is where it has to begin – within our own hearts. We may want to see others free, but we cannot “force” anyone to change and we cannot tie our own self-worth to seeing “positive results” in the lives of anyone we might seek to help – that’s called “co-dependence” and it can be extremely damaging to all parties concerned. Somehow, I think we have to get our own “self-worth” out of the equation. Then “rejection” really has no meaning because somehow, deep inside, we know that when we plant seeds of love, they are not something we manufactured ourselves and their rejection or acceptance is not a reflection of ourselves. The seeds have an eternal essence and what happens to them once we have planted them is not our responsibility. That’s between the person receiving and the Source of the Love.. Somehow there is true freedom in all of this – a release to love and receive love, but through a filter that purifies and protects and gives Life to the love itself and ourselves – a freedom that allows us to see with “new eyes” and a “new heart” – to see the beauty that is there in our own imperfection and pain and that of others, transformed by the touch of love..
There is one form of love that can be most selfish and confusing in its innate nature and that is “infatuation” or low levels of “romantic love” – really the most popular kind to talk about and dream about and offer as entertainment. I’d love to know how you and others “handle” this very volatile emotion in yourself and others. It can be transformed into something healing and beneficial I think, but in its raw form, it can be pretty lethal to all involved, especially when it is one-side, which is so often the case!
Thank you again for helping all of us look deep within and stir up awakening ideas – sharing is truly the doorway to helping us look beyond our own blindness. I really believe that!
Much love and prayers always!! mom e
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Marjo
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Thanks for this blog…so simple, honest and refreshing…I guess that’s how things should be dealt in life, right? But why is it so complicated at times??? Haha! Thanks for sharing your point of view…You are making it so easy to discover/learn/understand what courage, trust and love is all about…I must admit that I like your definition of those words!! 🙂 And thanks to Alex as well…for being so inspiring…while exposing your personal thoughts and sharing about the steps you are making regarding this in your own life! You are definitely opening the way to new horizons in my life…and I sincerely thank you for that big brother! Marjo 🙂
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mush eater
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Continued: I treasure all of my relationships, and certainly life will throw unexpected things our way. To allow something really small to eat at us, afraid to tell those we love how hard life has been, why she couldn’t send a care package, as frequent as she wanted, to do something special to show her appreciation for all that they do. I miss and love you all, and I just don’t want to let something as precious and fragile as our relationships be stolen because of something that has no eternal value.
I cannot stress it enough!!! I keep thanking God for the day that He brought us all together, each and every day! I know that he is watching over us all, and I feel encouraged to of braved many storms. I will not quit or give up, and I will be sure to keep reminding each of you of how very important that you are to me! You are a great Sister Miss Isabel, and I do appreciate your words of encouragement, I simply cannot say it enough without it sounding like a 45 playing, but it is true!
I don’t want you to ever change who you are, or talk defeating words about yourself again,ok? I think the world of all of you Miss Isabel, and all the great brothers and sisters that I am continuing to meet. It really is amazing, and I cannot put it into words. I will put all of myself back into what was taken from me. I really hope, that all of you can forgive me for being really out of character. The love and trust that we’ve built means so much to me, and I keep praying!!
I love Alex so very much, xoxox, Miss Isabel, with all of my heart! I know we’ve gone through storms, we all have, but can we put those moments that hindered us behind us and keep pressing into the plan that God has for our lives, and to keep building and seeding hope into the dream that lies ahead in front of us? I know we can, and I refuse it live in despair of that unfortunate moment.
I am very truly sorry, and it won’t happen again!!
Love from your sister, Heatherxoxox
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Heather
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Hey Sister Miss Isabel!!
I think that we need to be really ready, to face the obstacles that come our way, trying to keep us from reaching our dreams. I feel that it is when we make the most progress, that the enemy, that comes in forms of hate, violence, and others, too, tries to tear us down. They feed us lies, in hopes that we’ll quit and not keep pressing toward the path that will take us where we want to be. I won’t allow for those voices to take away the dream in my heart, and keep me from building, In order to not make a bigger step forward.
I tresaure
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Chris
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This week, after reading Alex’s blog I wondered to myself what was restraining me in front of the world’s suffering and I came to realize that sometimes, I minimize the brokenness of my heart toward others…
I am more loving and caring than I dare to believe in a way… This week, when I saw the trailer of a movie about bullied kids that will soon come out, I felt like turning the world upside down… I can’t stand seeing people and especially kids being humiliated and rejected…
That video just like Alex’s blog and yours had an impact on me,
They teased and awakened me about my own heart for others if I can say it that way…
Now, it’s for me to cultivate it every day… knowing that it’s going to lead me toward more and more involvement… This is what I want…!!
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Mary
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Thanks for sharing these words. They are a great rephrasing of Alex’s blog, and even more. Another way to dig deeper, to expose how love is more than compassion and empathy. Love triggers something in us that makes us take action, makes us see the responsibility we have towards the others around us, challenges us to change and be transformed, in order to serve others in what they truly need. Alex’s blogs and yours are now real arrows piercing the shells of my eyes and heart.
Thank you for exposing yourself this way 😉
Mary
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Sean Fortner
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All too often, the lines between hate & love, reality & illusion, become blurred. We grow comfortable in these four walls, this box we built to ensure our protection…but I ask you, how can we reach out to others, while in this closed off room?… If we become selfish, we think about loving ourselves, if we become selfish we may love others more than we do ourselves. Is there a balance? That, in whom ever may be reading this, is up to you…remember this tho, hate, was once a form of love that no one accepted, no one acknowledged. The path is full of demons and angels, so to speak. So it’s only natural that both try to contact usa.
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