Unknowingly, I had made a declaration.
I had written it in indelible ink on the walls of my heart.
Tattooed it on my skin.
When things are hard, I can’t be soft.
I don’t know when I made it…so I don’t know how long I have been waving this banner,
but it may as well great you at the door to our home.
When you are short with me, a soft answer will not be what you get back.
A snippy text gets a hard return.
If frustration is what you are dishing out, then I can heap it right back.
Hard gets hard.
If I sense a closed door, the door to my heart will not crack. In fact, I will stuff the cracks so no light can be seen.
Hard = Hard
What other equation is there?
You and me get stuck here, at inflexible, concrete, unforgiving, with no soft place to land the disagreement.
Because
Hard = Hard
And that is just the way it is.
If there is no giving in, my feet dig in.
If there’s no conceding the point then we are in for a long day/night/week.
And that leaves us stuck between a rock and a hard place with our teeth clenched and our hearts a conglomeration of grudge, righteous indignation and unforgiveness.
And that leaves us with
Hard + Hard = Hard
And then I saw this
And this proves my declaration wrong.
There can be soft admist hard.
Soft can grow in hard places.
Soft doesn’t need soft in order to thrive and grow.
I feel a little foolish as it seems this brave little flower has done what I cannot do.
Or at least what I can’t do on my own.
Soft in the midst of hard requires more strength than just giving back hard and
it doesn’t come from me, but through me.
Forgiveness can counter unforgiveness.
A kind word can battle with wrath – and the war fizzles out.
Soft can envelope hard and the sharp edges melt away and
we can hear each other again.
Soft + Hard = Relationship
The flower in the midst of concrete, metal and construction made a declaration to me.
Soft is strong,
Soft is beautiful,
Soft is possible in the midst of hard.
