Confession ('97)

It was 1997 (I think?) when I first heard his ‘confession’…

Thankfully it had nothing to do with me – at the least, I had nothing to do with scaring the boy. I liked him. There seemed to be an instant immediacy, a familiarity and trust between us – although I never talked about this feeling to him, to see if he’d felt it too, I just accepted it as is. I’d had enough confirmation in time past to verify this feeling, whenever it came, as generally being a mutual deal.

I was just a momentary supervisor in time to him… an 'on-the-job' training coach for pity’s sake…

One night the boy blurted out, “Love is a bad, bad thing. I don’t want anything to do with love.”

I don’t recollect now, why he’d say such a thing to me. Perhaps I’d asked, in passing, how his girlfriend was, or made some conspirator’s remark as in: ‘wouldn’t you love to be done with work, out of here, and off with your friends ….?’

It surprised me, what he’d said.
Had I heard right?
Was this young man on the edge of hating love and hardening his heart?
….. forever, maybe?

I do remember what I said to him:

I told him that I thought he'd had it wrong.
That to me, love - true, pure love - is a good thing. The very best thing you can ever cultivate in your own heart and the greatest gift one human being could ever bestow, sustain, and nurture in relationship to another.

I told him that one needed to keep in mind though, that just because you'd the best, heartfelt gift to give - it didn't necessarily mean the person you'd most like to give it to, would receive that gift. They may not be able to.

And…
Also…

Did he not know that there must-needs-be opposition in all things?

I told him I knew that there were a lot of wicked ‘things’ out in the world masquerading as love – all of which really had nothing, whatsoever to do with love - quite the opposite actually... those things, those pretentious, impersonating, imposters … were/are/and continue to be the bad thing, the scary thing, the stuff that’ll hurt you - for the very fact that they are not at all what they pretend to be, they are not LOVE.

I told him that:
Real love is the ‘balm’.
Love is good.
...
and
...
Good is good.

I’m not sure he heard me right. I wonder now if he’d thought I’d said, “REAL love is DA Bomb!”
lol
;-)

Isn't it amazing how, sometimes, trying to clairify something for someone else, helps us to better sort the subject for our own sakes?

For me, the scary thing was this thought of the young man ordering his world with the good thing as bad (and so very possibly giving bad things a status of gooood.) No decent coach EVER wants to see that!

hummm guess I'll roll over to Sunday on this note:

Hebrews 10:35 - Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward.

Love and love s'more...
D.