Too often we write people off in life hoping that we’ll never again have to face the hurt, confusion, burden, envy, or angst we think the person brings. It’s just easier not to be bothered, right?  Who needs the drama?  So, we stop taking their calls. We refrain from extending invitations to share wine (maybe cognac if you’re into that…but, you get the point) and the latest farm to table cuisine. We hide or throw away anything that will give even an inkling of a reminder of our association with the person. In some instances, we even make our best attempt to erase them from our memory. Because somehow creating this element of non-existence begins to fill all the holes the person has so carefully cut out of our spirit and heart.  I mean at least that’s what we’ve accepted as truth.

What we soon find out is that those same things we try to forget in one person will show up in another. Why? Because it’s never about the person.  No encounter in life is coincidental. God connects us with people in life to teach us more about who we are. So, while we’re hoping the world isn’t so small after all and we’ll never see this person again, we should really be more focused on why we crossed paths in the first place.  I believe God is one of the nice teachers…He’ll let you keep taking the test until you actually get a better grade (thankfully, he imparted this same quality in my high school Chemistry teacher).  In other words, you may not be revisited by the initial person who you thought you gave a one way ticket out of your life, but he’ll raise the same issues and characteristics in another person that once bothered you.  While it’s imperative that we learn to let go of people that may be hindering spiritual and life progression, we should never dismiss their value.  If we refuse to acknowledge the unpleasantries of our relationships, then we forfeit God’s ability to help us move to a place of forgiveness, peace, and maybe even restoration.  You honestly never know what the future holds and who you may need in life.  Don’t burn what can be fixed.  Build until it can’t be broken.