I am kindly asking you to give me space. To accept who I am and take my perspective for a minute. It is incredibly hurtful and triggering and painful when you try to convince me to come back to the church. I will never try to sway you from your beliefs and lifestyle. I say this with tears in my eyes: Why do you feel like you have to do that to me? You take no time to understand me. You ask no questions about what my experiences have been. You only tell me what I need. Can you understand why that is so painful to me?
I understand that the church helps you. I understand that you feel it's your duty to share the joy you feel. I was once where you are now. There is nothing you can say to me that I haven't said before myself. Please don't insult me by thinking you know what I need without taking the time to ask me about my experiences. I'm happy your needs are filled by the church. It doesn't fill my needs.
If you are active in the church and you've never tried to convince me that the church is what I need, I thank you with everything I have. You are a true friend and I have felt nothing but love from you.
If you are from another religion, please do not take this as an opportunity to try to convince me to come to your church. You've been cool so far, don't ruin it.
I really just hope you understand that the things you say to me, even though they are said with good intent, cause me pain. Again, I understand that you just want the best for me. I'm telling you that what I need is to feel accepted as a person even if my decisions differ from yours.
Thank you.
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