only those who know

something has been sticking with me.

i've been thinking about legacies - how we leave them, what kind of people are known for them, what does a legacy mean?

maybe the people most memorable and impacting are the ones who let us be ourselves. they aren't looking for a way to make their world easier, but other people's burdens lighter. they are searching for depth in another person's soul. they are listening to the long talks that aren't leading to a specific place, but may just understand the necessity of allowing a person to share. to be quiet and sit across from someone and let them unleash the harsh inner battles of thoughts that swirl around is to turn on a flashlight in a dark cave.

this past week made me think of people i have lost and the people around me who have lost friends as well. there is no way to explain pain enough to keep it from stinging. there is no prayer to make our tears stop when we simply have to mourn. there is no formula to protect your heart from breaking. somethings just have to be felt and processed and let to set their course. i will never understand that, but i'm trying to figure out how to accept it.

i really can only observe the people in my life and how they have faced these inexplicable experiences. i'm in awe of the leaders around me who continue to push through, persevere and yet allow themselves to cope. i don't understand how this works but i'm letting it become a truth. i read this quote by brennan manning that pretty much sums up how i have viewed the people around me:

"Only someone who has been there, who has drunk the dregs of our cup of pain, who has experienced the existential loneliness & alienation of the human condition, dares whisper the name of Holy to our unspeakable distress. Only that witness is credible; only that love is believable"