Way before our marriage, mommy asked daddy an important question that's going to determine the love that's going to cement the foundation of our family:
Can we just be together and not give a care about the world?
Mommy already knew the answer. The answer is, of course, a no, albeit a sympathetic one.
Why, my dear? Why do you have to give a care about the world around you, especially when you're currently placed in a situation or an environment where you feel like you don't quite fit in?
The simple answer is because you are living in it.
Look around you. You are blessed with the roof over your head and the meals on your plate and the clothing you are putting on right now. Where do these resources come from? The world. The people around you. Your neighbours, your friends, even your enemies.
Yes, mommy and daddy are the ones providing them all for you. But we aren't carpenters or cooks or dressmakers. We aren't it all, we can't do it all, and we're definitely not perfect.
I know it hurts. The last thing you want to do is reach out to the one who hurts you in vulnerability, even when you've done no wrong. But love lives not in isolation but in relationships. We need the people around us to work together so that important things can get done, even when we don't always like it.
Look at Father. He gave his only Son to the world, who is the most precious part of himself, so that those who believe in His Love and his sincerity will live.
What if Jesus never finished God's plan while he was on earth? We will still be perpetually fighting our inner demons by ourselves, for ourselves, not giving two cents about the people around us ... and without realizing it, we're on the road to self-destruction. He took it all out on himself in victory.
So remember this: To love is to give. A mature response to loving people and hateful people is to equally act in their best interest. It is not your responsibility to make them love you back, nor it is your responsibility to justify yourself, or to convince others into believing in your story and embracing your uniqueness. That is a job fit only for the creator of the world.
