People

I can't help it... I believe in people.
I'm an introvert, overwhelmed by crowds, noise, hoorah.
But I like people; I can't help it.
I'm slow to get to know new folks, hating small talk and finding it hard to move beyond 'hello, how are you?'
But I've never met someone not worth the effort.
I've been hurt before, had people I couldn't forgive, lost friends. But they were all important, valuable, vital.
And in the end, I've been able to forgive them; and maybe they've forgiven me. I like to think I forgive easily. Usually anyway.

I believe in people.
I believe that every name, the good, bad, and ugly, splashed across my internet news feed, has a story, a need.
I believe that every face I see was crafted by the hand of God, because God, my God, loved and wanted that person from before the foundation of the earth.
I believe that each human being was meant for eternity.

Each one is fallen, but retains the image of God.
Marred, but not erased.

People are passionate, even when wrong.
Emotive, expressive, creative, cruel.
There is almost always a context.
People are gifted, varied, complex.
With hands, minds, voices, people create.
Because God created first.

And so I find it difficult when people walk away.
But at times I've had to let them go.
And some, on occasions more rare than I'd like to admit, have eventually wondered back into my life again.

And I find it difficult when people hate, when arguing is not about debate but anger, when charity fails.

I take the Scriptures seriously in the command to honor others above ourselves.

Though I fail to live it out more often than not.
I like people, but I fail to love.
To welcome the stranger. To hear the story. To know the context.
To practice what I've just preached.