It's all about relationships.

It's all about relationships. I feel like this is what I've been hearing over and over again for the past few months. I can't deny that the phrase feels trite to me; I also can't deny that because it does, I don't fully "get" it. Because it is. On the most basic level, it comes down to relationships. But I'm trying. Day by day, I'm trying.

If you don't love someone, you don't hate him/her (or, at least, not necessarily). But you don't have an emotional investment, a vested interest, an out-and-out desperation to love. Is that apathy? Is that nonchalance? Is that spiritual laziness? Is that an inability to fully understand the position we all hold in Christ? Is that human nature?

Somedays, I know the answer is yes. I know it's yes to all of them at one time or another. I know that ultimately I have to admit, I haven't helped bring justice to this world with my resources, time and energy, not because I hate, but because I don't care enough. Because I don't love enough. There was a time where I would have tried to soften the blow of that for myself -- would have tried to put a twist to it to make myself come out looking better than I am. The smoke and mirrors treatment if you will, but those times are behind me for now. Seeing it in print and making it a public proclamation makes it that much more real and holds me that much more accountable.

It has to be now. It has to be love. It has to be relationships.