discomfort

Pain is a signal that something is wrong. In the same way, discomfort shows us that something is off. Avoiding it won’t cause things to be made right. And dismissing it certainly won’t allow us to have the deep and true relief that comes from pressing in to find wholeness and healing.

The truer and deeper is found when I do not avoid or dismiss the discomfort but let it lead to the underlying issues.

And the underlying issues are not the headlines or the extreme positions. The underlying issues are not labels and cannot be easily categorized.

My comfort clamors for something to pin the discomfort on. My comfort clamors to blame. My comfort hides in shame. My comfort seeks to justify instead of truly seek justice.

Things are complex because people are complex. A person, my friends, your friends, a human heart, a lifetime of experiences cannot be reduced to a headline. I cannot be reduced to a headline. You (whoever you are) cannot be reduced to a headline. “They” (whoever your “they” is) cannot be reduced to a headline. It’s just not that simple.

My comfort wants a simple solution, a formula. My comfort wants to pin my discomfort on one part so I can dismiss the messy whole.

It’s easy to try to find something to pin the discomfort on rather than to sit with it and ask the Lord where I need to change and how I can love others better.

Because at the end of the day, at the personal level, I can only change me, not you, not them. I can help free others to change, but I cannot do that work for anyone but myself.

So may I ask you today, right here, right now… How can you change? How can you allow the discomfort to illumine where you can change to love others better?