Do You Know Me?

When two members were confirmed in the community in which I live, one of them told a story of travelling back to his home country with one of the men that I live with. He said the most profound moment for him was when he was sitting at the table with his family, natural and adopted, and realized that there was someone there who really knew him.

I think that is something we all look for, someone who really knows us. We look for that in so many ways and not all of them good. Many of them lead to empty relationships when we really only want to find something that answers us, answers the deepest part of our hearts. We want someone to know us even when we run away from that possibility.

We walk away from so many people and choose to not learn their stories or see the reason why they hurt. To truly know someone is harder than what we want it to be. If it were easy, it would happen more often, but it would also be worth so much less.

Someone I know relatively well told me a few weeks ago that he knows me and he thinks that I know him. I chose not to argue the point at the time, but I disagree. As close as we can be, we're not. There are some people who know me, but I haven't lived long enough to have someone know my heart, or claim it. I move around a lot and meet so many people which can make it difficult to let anyone get close to me. There is also the chance that those who are close to me will leave as they are in the same points in their lives as mine.

To take the chance to meet someone and get to know them a little bit is something that needs to be done more often. We walk past so many people in the world who need to be loved and listened to. We should take the time to acknowledge that.

The next challenge we have is to really get to know someone, a process that takes years and much patience. In truth, I have found the people I work with to be the easiest to let know me and also the easiest to know. They don't put up barriers and they never have to work very hard to take down the barriers of those around them. There are very few boundaries around here, which makes relationships both easier and harder. You love more, but only somedays hurt less. Regardless of how much it hurts, it was what we all want on the deepest level of our hearts. We need to be able to claim that and be open to the fact that someone will answer the call of our hearts.