Say it

You would think that by the time one has taken breathes for 33 years, they would have learned so many basic fundamentals of life and love that nothing would be new to them.  Maybe it isn't really new to me,  but the last three days of my life have retaught me something I need to share and make sure I never forget.  It's pretty simple.  If you know me, though, simplicity doesn't make something easy for me.  Especially when it involves engaging my heart and emotions.  The simple/hard thing for me?  Saying it.

Saturday I went to the funeral of a woman I respected and loved.  She was the parent of a student I helped introduce to Christ years ago while serving at Cypress Meadows Community Church in Clearwater.  She was an accomplished woman.  She was a fantastic lawyer, an elder in the church, a proud mother and a force to be reckoned with.  At the funeral I heard some people who knew her much better than I did, speak about the impact she had made in their lives.  What a legacy!  Douglas, the pastor at Cypress told how before she went in for the heart surgery, where she would have the heart attack that took her from us, they had prayed.  And he had hugged her neck, kissed her on the cheeck and then told her he loved her.  You don't know Douglas, but he's not the kiss on the cheek type of person.  Most of us aren't, but he felt the nudge to do it, and he expressed something in that moment that he said he will never regret.  His deep seeded, emotionally rooted, brotherly love for her.  He had no idea what would happen to her in the next days.  It wasn't supposed to be a dangerous procedure.  He said it. 

How often we leave things unsaid.  It's easier for me to tell my wife what she has done to annoy me, than it is for me to look her in the eyes and tell her how much I need her and depend on her in my life...how much I deeply love her.  It's easier for me to say, "see you later" to my brother, than to open up the emotional can of worms that are embodied in the simple words, "I love you man."  It took me 6 months of chemo treatments to squeak those words out, and after a good visit with him Friday night, I once again seem to have resorted to "see you later."  I think he knows I love him.  I think he knows I will be with him until he beats this cancer, and that I'd do anything I could to help.  I wish I'd said it though. 

My friend died suddenly, unexpectedly.  It could happen to any of us.  We just don't know what the next minute or day will bring.  But I am sure of this.  We need to be able to say it, because we may never know the true depths of friendship and love if we keep those things bottled.  We may never find the chance to say it again.  We may miss the opportunity to let someone know their true worth, and to have them return that love. 

I guess what I'm rambling on about is just that simple idea...don't hold back the next time you think you should let someone know how much they mean to you.  They may to hear that. 

This Sunday at Collision, just reinforced my Saturday experiences.  I paraphrased John 13 and 14, in such a way that the first half of the service, people thought I was announcing that I was leaving the church.  Yes...that's total emotional manipulation.  Guilty as charged.  But the reality of the moment was that this was Jesus trying to say to his friends how important they were to Him.  He knew full well what the days ahead would entail.  He was preparing them.  He was saying it!  So much of those next few chapters before He goes to His trial are those words of love spoken from the mouth of God to His friends, His students...and then, by His very death on the cross.  "I love you this much." 

Say it...to someone you haven't had the courage or opportunity to.

Say it...to your spouse, your children, don't miss an opportunity, you just don't know if you will get another

Say it...to your friend you've never had more than a passing conversation with...that friendship can be more than surface...when we move our sports page chat to something bigger.

Alright...guys, we suck at this.  I know it...and I know we aren't going to go around hugging each other saying "I love you" and kissing each other on the cheek.  Maybe just going past the gang style hand shake and engaging a friend and saying..."You know, thanks for keeping up with me man, I don't have a lot of friends in this world, and..." anyway you pick it up from there.  Like I said, I'm horrible at this stuff.  But I intend to find ways to

SAY IT

Comments

[Linda Mauk Davis]

You said it well, don't let a moment go by without telling your loved ones, I LOVE YOU.IT may be last time and regrets will not matter. God wants us to love one another as he loved us.