It might have been me........
Not sure I ever spoke to him.
I have to confess at some points I thought of the church as a place I got hurt
and rejected. I thought these bad people, how could they be so hypocritical.
It was a legitimate feeling, though it was an illusion. I was hurt, but I did not
know why or quite what I wanted. I did not even have the language, it was a
feeling my mind found an excuse for. And that is often our failing. Not simply
bringing our feeling to our King and talking them through.
Do you know how long it takes to really get to know someone. Years.
Yet we expect so much of others, even when we share so little and we
want so much the other way. It is no surprise we come up short.
And along the way, what we thought we knew can turn bad, and who we
wrote off in the wrong way can turn out to be a treasure. We as people
are not very good at this seeing people stuff. But Jesus is, very good.
And I do not think it is super spiritual gifting, it is simple seeing people
and their focus and care. Some are just beautiful people who glow.
But it takes time and interplay to see and truly grow in these things,
and probably just like Apostle Peter, tests and failures along the way.