I often get folks wondering how I can be "as understanding" as I am... I just chuckle and think of the phrase a beautiful soul left with me years ago: "I come by it honestly"...
Folks will look at your character, your body and your temperament (etc) as a finished product they are inspired by but seldom ever ask the most relevant question: "the sauce is great... but how exactly is that sauce made?" They think I will always come up with the most profound conclusion as soon as I take in the information. Some things are easy to figure over time but some things, the things that hit closer to "home"... take time to chew on before you can digest and articulate the right conclusion. Heavy emotions can blind your objectivity when it is needed the most. In other words, when heavy emotions are wrapped up into something taking place, I will entertain the most surface take imaginable when I should be showing those closest to me the most grace. Given that, my emotions will be inspired by that take and nine times out of ten... I WILL be in error. Error I try not to speak on or act on. Now, the difference between the mature and the immature is this: the mature will revisit that take and dig deeper into empathy (not to excuse an offense but to understand if there was malice behind it or if it was something you might consider doing under the same circumstances) to figure out what's really going on OR they will revisit how they saw that information to begin with. In the end, your perspective will change and as a result, your outlook and stance towards a person or an event will change as well. THAT is how the sauce is made and it is precisely why I have posted my initial thoughts on a thing AS WELL AS its progression towards the development of grace in my soul.
In your lives, you will see folk do things you will ascribe malice to or you will not take the time to try to understand the whys or the details of what actually happened. You will allow yourself to settle into an aggrieved, angry or disappointed mindset because that is the easiest route to take. To take any other route will require you to show some measure of grace and that is something this era is no longer capable of. To defy the era is to show yourself to be a truly understanding soul.
Sometimes the seasoned heart will entertain the wrong thought as a process to reach the right one. I am no better than anyone else in that department. You just don't know how much self-reflection or prayer it took to get me to a place of deep understanding. This is why I give folks I am close to the benefit of the doubt at the first whiff of something seeming "off". It's not that I'm a pushover in any sense of the word. That's just me not wanting to distance myself from someone I care about simply because they were just being human. After awhile without clarity (and that could mean years) I just back off without judgment, anger or disappointment. Why? because I don't know enough to come to any conclusions. The immature will stick to the surface explanation as justification for how they are feeling and acting... I just can't do that. Not because I'm better than you, but because after being on the receiving end of that, I endeavored to overcome that within myself. I encourage you all to do the same. Better sauce... better flavor... I'm out...
~moses apollo
Quick note: given the events that have been taking place around the world as of late, I need to make clear THAT is NOT what I'm talking about. In attempting to show empathy to these killers, we can clearly understand what turned them into animals, why they did what they did & why they will face justice for it... as well as those that inspired the mindset behind their animalistic actions. True empathy does not excuse... it clarifies. No, in this post I'm talking about you and me... the everyday soul that walks the streets or surfs the internet. I may or may not post about what happened to Irena and Charlie someday... or I may not. If I wrote anything now, it would be driven by an anger and a frustration that some might take to mean the wrong thing. I aim to be responsible. So if you thought I was talking about them, go back and re-read what I just wrote as though I were talking about how you feel towards someone you had a misunderstanding with or someone you are holding a grudge against over something, that in retrospect... can actually be seen as not a good enough reason to cut them out of your life altogether.
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