Question to consider: Who do I need to restore a broken relationship with today?
“May 11
“Today, no one (as far as I am aware, anyway).
“Tomorrow, next week, or next month – Sally – definitely my EGR (extra grace required) friend, but praise God, his grace is sufficient for me: plenty left to share.
“This chapter gives a great game plan for our future incidents. I admit though, I don’t like the idea of missing part of a Sunday morning service to try to reconcile after one of her muttering sessions in choir, especially since she’ll probably deny any problem so she can cling to her passive-aggressive anger for a few more hours.”
Dearest Rachel –
You had a talent for finding the ‘extra grace required’ people, and giving them the extra grace that was required. And you did have so much of that love and patience to spare, somehow. Even down to the last week or so, you and I had words about how to deal with Susie for the same reason: I could not fathom why you put up with her, and some other drama she was putting you through at the time, and you were insisting that she deserved yet another chance to calm down and tell her side of the story. Yeah, I was the bad guy in this story, since I couldn’t do what you could.
But of course, you even acknowledged that there were limits to how and when you would extend time and effort towards reconciliation. And that’s more than fair, at least from my perspective. But what do I know, since I never had (and will never comprehend) your charitable disposition?
I was (and still am, truth to tell) a relatively asocial person. Not quite antisocial, but dangerously close. Even now, the closest relationships I have were the ones you formed first, and brought me into. From that social perspective, and all those you reached out to up here, I would often maintain that the best thing that I ever did in life was to bring you up here where you could truly blossom, and help others to do the same. It scares me to know that now I have to learn how to do that myself; any relationships I build from here on out, I have to build on my own.
As always, wish me luck, honey. I’m going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 