Pass the hurt?

Happy Friday to y'all. Hope none of you get hit by a satellite falling out of the sky today! If you don't know what I'm talking about, NASA has warned the world that one of their satellites will be falling back to earth shortly.. But don't worry your odds of getting hit by it are the same as hitting a hole in one.. If you're a bad golfer you're safe!

So what is this blog about? Satellites falling? Actually no that was just a random thought. I'm actually writing about hurt.. How many of us are guilty of passing the hurt? I know I am.. What is passing the hurt? You might ask with a knowing grin on your beautiful face. Well it's a little game we as humans like to play.

Has anyone ever hurt you? Said something mean? Done something to you they shouldn't have? Made you feel like the world wasn't such an amazing place? Maybe even made you feel like the world was a down right awful place? Yes I think it's safe to say we have all been hurt.
So what is our reaction to being hurt?
Well It would seem our instinctual reaction is we put up walls. Go into defense mode. We don't want to be hurt because it doesn't feel good so we look for ways to protect ourselves. They say sometimes the best defense is a good offense so some people begin to hurt others in an attempt to not be hurt themselves. No one is going to go near a snake that constantly bites. The snake might be lonely but chances are no one will ever get close enough to hurt him. Good strategy?

Someone says you're stupid and you say.. No I'm not you are!! Think about it..

So we pass the hurt. We pass it to children, friends, family or anyone in our way. They in turn pass the hurt to someone new. Not because we want to hurt others. No, I don't think anyone wants another person to hurt. In our simple little human minds we think we are protecting ourselves.

HURT CAN BE RESOLVED! But sadly It rarely is. We live in a world of hurt people. They in turn become lost because they live in a cycle of hurting others and then guess what? The defenses fail and the person still gets hurt. To resolve the hurt we must begin by looking at why fighting fire with fire doesn't work.. MORE FIRE!!

It may seem like it's human nature to hold grudges, to build walls and to pass the hurt but I think sometimes saying something is human nature is just an excuse. An excuse to take the easy road. We define our nature by our actions. Break the cycle of hurt! It begins with forgiveness.

Corrie Ten Boom, a Christian woman who survived a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust, said, "Forgiveness is to set a prisoner free, and to realize the prisoner was you."

hmmmmm..... Really think about that... The prisoner was you? Could it be that our "Human nature" is actually hurting us more? Holding us captive? ABSOLUTELY! This is one of the truths that when you realize it, it really sets you free..

So look at your past. The things that have hurt you.. Start letting those things go and see how it feels, forgive the people who you feel have hurt you. It's scary at first because you think you are making yourself vulnerable but guess what, it doesn't make you any more vulnerable at all! Start fighting fire with water. If someone hurts you, love them in return.

Jesus said,

“But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also” Matthew 5:39

Jesus in his infinite wisdom was commanding us to do something we don't completely understand. It seems he is telling us to let people hurt us. Simply looked at it may appear that way but we also have to rememeber Jesus had knowledge of the big picture. Maybe it was more about love. Saying to the person, "I know you don't want to hurt me, I will not retaliate, I love you." Eventually love causes people to drop their defenses because their fear of being hurt starts to disappear.

Passing the hurt will never get us anywhere but it may, in the beginning, feel like we are protecting ourselves. The only true way to stop the world from hurting is to love and forgive each other. Try it, it will surprise you.

Start passing the love. It may take time to break down defenses but eventually they will fall and you will see the world through different eyes.

A loving heart is the beginning of all knowledge.
Thomas Carlyle