Friends and Other People and Connections

I've been reading a book by Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and lately it's been talking about loving our neighbors. There are a few key sentences that I've read and one of them is, "To bear the burden of the other person means involvement with the created reality of the other, to accept and affirm it, and in bearing with it, to break through to the point where we take joy in it."~ here what he's saying it that to love your neighbor (listening to them, hearing what he/she has to say, etc.) we must take the time to get involved in their lives. To get close to them so that we know them and they know us. This is difficult for some people. They don't want people to get close, for the fear of being hurt. I understand this, it hurts the first time to be denied or dumped or some other form or rejection. I've found it hard to want to open back up, b/c I don't want to get hurt, but I've been trying to make a conscious effort to still allow people to care and establish a relationship.

Another thing that Bonhoeffer says is that anyone who refuses to bear the burden of his/[her] neighbor, denies the law of Christ. I found this statement to be blunt. That if we don't listen to our brethren, maybe miss one day, then we have denied Christ. This seemed to be a very punishing statement. But it does seem to have an accurate meaning of how Christ lived, b/c he never quit, always loved, cared, listened, taught, etc. It's difficult to constantly have a loving feeling day-in-and-day-out. But supposedly with the help of our neighbors, they will help us through out hard times, and those times we are alone with God, are the times the we are rejuvenated.....it's funny how we are to find our strength in our friends, and, mainly, in Christ. But we feel so embarrassed about it, we don't want others to know us, b/c it's shameful, it's not worth the time, or we don't have time. BUT to know that someone still loves you not matter what happen(ed/s) would be something so great. That they love you no matter what. They care for you b/c they've gotten to know you, they've seen who you really are: your sadness, your un-cute-ness, your happiness, you beauty, your bad days, good days, your ups and down. And on the other end, how do we go about letting them know that we feel this way towards them. When you feel so strongly, that even if we've been rejected we still feel this way. Is this how we are suppose feel, how it's suppose to be; to love, care, etc., without receiving anything in return (or at least it might seem that way b/c we are blinded by something, an emotion maybe.)

To love, is to care about someone; to be available, to give an ear, to lend a shoulder, a vehicle, a dollar. Is it that simple? It might be a little more complex than that. I need to go to bed....let me know what you find out, b/c I'm still lost in all of this, I understand it as much as I understand astrophysics....which is little-to-non.

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