M
MrsAngelala
Guest
Yes, you’re making sense, but no, you’re not quite right. My closest friend is a quarter-century older than me. I’m not a big fan of “people.” Just leave me alone, right? But early on I noticed that she had a real love for other people, despite the fact that’s she’s a pretty hard-line introvert. So where did this people-orientation come from? As an introvert myself, I know it’s not natural for us.
It turns out it’s a direct effect of her love for Jesus. I had an inkling of that in the beginning, but it didn’t really click until I started teaching private music lessons. My students and I often have nothing in common beyond our student/teacher relationship. Sometimes, in the beginning, I don’t personally like them. But I found that I came to love AND like each and every one of them, simply because I have poured myself out for them. They learn the material I put before them; I learn how their minds work, what to do to reach them, how to guide them to their own discoveries, and when to just give them the solutions.
And you know what? It turns out that even the people I started out not-liking are really interesting. People are so interesting. You just have to get close enough to take a good look.
Furthermore, once I started spending a lot of time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, this openness began to expand rapidly. Now I can often love all kinds of people – annoying, incompetent, forgetful, quirky (I especially love quirky people!), even people who harm me. And by love, I mean “work for their good.” And by “work for their good,” I mean give of my time and attention, spend kindness, offer food, notes of thank-you or encouragement, gifts, and myself.
I still struggle with some people, and with some I outright fail. Some days I do actually, literally, crawl under blankets and hide; even when I am trying, I have better days and worse days. But Jesus didn’t limit love to prayer. (Is prayer all he does for you?) Love him first, invest in him first, and you’ll find yourself becoming more and more genuinely interested in his people. It just kind of happens. Even if you’re an introvert.
It turns out it’s a direct effect of her love for Jesus. I had an inkling of that in the beginning, but it didn’t really click until I started teaching private music lessons. My students and I often have nothing in common beyond our student/teacher relationship. Sometimes, in the beginning, I don’t personally like them. But I found that I came to love AND like each and every one of them, simply because I have poured myself out for them. They learn the material I put before them; I learn how their minds work, what to do to reach them, how to guide them to their own discoveries, and when to just give them the solutions.
And you know what? It turns out that even the people I started out not-liking are really interesting. People are so interesting. You just have to get close enough to take a good look.
Furthermore, once I started spending a lot of time with Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, this openness began to expand rapidly. Now I can often love all kinds of people – annoying, incompetent, forgetful, quirky (I especially love quirky people!), even people who harm me. And by love, I mean “work for their good.” And by “work for their good,” I mean give of my time and attention, spend kindness, offer food, notes of thank-you or encouragement, gifts, and myself.
I still struggle with some people, and with some I outright fail. Some days I do actually, literally, crawl under blankets and hide; even when I am trying, I have better days and worse days. But Jesus didn’t limit love to prayer. (Is prayer all he does for you?) Love him first, invest in him first, and you’ll find yourself becoming more and more genuinely interested in his people. It just kind of happens. Even if you’re an introvert.