closure

But one must do something about the past. It doesn__ just cease to be. It goes on existing and affecting the present, and in new and different ways, as if in some other dimension it too were growing.

When you love yourself you will never need closure from any man. That doesn't mean you didn't love him, it simply means you love yourself enough to realize God has a better plan for you that doesn't involve one more conversation that will remind you of that person's lack of respect for you.

We've been very lonely, but we had it easy. Because death is so heavy - we, too young to know about it, couldn't handle it. After this you and I may end up seeing nothing but suffering, difficulty and ugliness, but if only you'll agree to it, I want for us to go on to more difficult places, happier places, what ever comes, together. I want you to make the decision after you're completely better, so take your time thinking about it. In the mean time, though, don't disappear on me.

Some people say, __nce you learn to be happy, you won't tolerate being around people who make you feel anything less._ My Christ says, __our job is to get off your self righteous butt and start reaching out to the difficult people because my ministry wasn__ about a bunch of nice people getting together once a week to sing hymns and get a feel good message, that you may or may not apply, depending on the depth of your anger for someone. It is about caring for and helping the broken hearted, the difficult, the hurt, the misunderstood, the repulsive, the wicked and the liars. It is about turning the other cheek when someone hurts you. It is about loving one another and making amends. It is allowing people as many chances as they need because God gives them endless chances. When you do this then you will know me and you will know true happiness and peace. Until then, you will never know who I really am. You will always be just a fan or a Sunday only warrior. You will continue to represent who you are to the world, but not me. I am the God that rescues.

I turned to face Audrey, and everything I loved was right there in her eyes, the memories tangible: the schooldays and sleepovers, the cheap bottles of wine and sappy chick flicks. She was there for my mother__ drunken relapses, there to hold me until I fell asleep the first time the ex from Seattle hit me. It was all there, and my God, each memory was suddenly sacred and the sun rose and set upon it.

Closure is just as delusive-it is the false hope that we can deaden our living grief.

The moonlight rained down on the beach as if to shine a spotlight on my solitude, and I wanted to cry out at it, __hy did you take her? You, surrounded by all of your twinkling stars and infinite wonders and darkness. There__ already enough beauty where you are.

...our loves ones truly are ever-present. We may bury their bodies or scatter their ashes, but their spirits are boundless and do not accompany them to the grave. The terms 'letting go' and 'closure' are just empty words. They mean nothing to someone who has suffered through the death of a loved one. Instead of insisting on figuratively burying our dead, why not keep them close to us? Love doesn't die when we do.

Forgiveness wasn__ ever easy, but a feat much more manageable when you weren__ the subject of its grace. Maybe I__ always be a broken recipient of grace. And in that musing, I found rest.

Words matter, but what matters more than words is forgiveness and compassion.

It wasn__ closure, really. But I__ said the right things. I__ hit on some truths. Maybe some things didn__ get closure. Maybe some things weren__ really worth it, or didn__ really need it, and after a while the unimportance would become obvious.

when the picture is too close to your face you lose the sight, when the future is too close to your face you see the light.

Some people can__ be in your life because they don__ have the power to help you improve it. That doesn__ mean you don__ wish them well, it just means that you are on Chapter ten of your life, when they are on Chapter five. Maybe, it is just enough to meet at the crossroads in life and agree to take separate paths, then with a cheshire grin you both look back and shout, __eat you to the top of the mountain_, followed by the funnest sprint of both of your lives.

But my world fell apart, and all they could do, the whole universe, was to silently move on.

If you have feelings for someone, let them know. It doesn__ matter if they can be in your life or not. Maybe, it is just enough for both of you to release the truth, so healing can occur. The opposite is true, as well. If you don__ have feelings for someone then never let another person suggest that you do. Protect your reputation and be responsible for the wrong information spread about you. Never allow anyone to live with a false belief or unfounded hope about you. An honorable person sets the record straight, so that person can move on with their life.

Closure is an American lie used to justify revenge. Healing is getting used to the pain, learning to be damaged.

Somethings worth having defy logic. They come with obstacles, challenges, battles and long periods of wandering in the dark. Your path won't make sense to your family or friends. People will weigh in with their life rules and fears, but in the end it is your life. That pull you feel is real and often your intuition. It nags at you everyday. Follow it for as far as it takes you because life is too short to dwell on indecision, while you forget to live. Take a chance because if you have a good heart God isn't going to abandon you. He will travel wherever you need to go, in order to find the missing pieces of your soul.

When religious people take the stance that they don__ owe anyone that is hurting closure or answers then God is not winning. Conflict continues because of lack of communication, fear and indifference.