What's wrong if there happens to be one person in the world who enjoys trying to understand you?

"No mistake about it. Ice is cold; roses are red; I'm in love. And this love is about to carry me off somewhere. The current's too overpowering; I don't have any choice. It may very well be a special place, some place I've never seen before. Danger may be lurking there, something that may end up wounding me deeply, fatally. I might end up losing everything. But there's no turning back. I can only go with the flow. Even if it means I'll be burned up, gone forever." — Haruki Murakami

She can't actually decide which of the lines caught her heart. All she knows is that each time they talk, he breaks down one brick from the walls she built up around her. Just one brick at a time. Slowly but surely. That's how strong his words are.

And she wonders where does his confidence come from. There is no trace of fear. He was boldly uttering his deepest feelings. Could it be that love truly conquers all?

...until finally, at last... it was verbalized. [8.30.11-01.45]

...Bleeding hearts will only cry out for more...

“A red rose is not selfish because it wants to be a red rose. It would be horribly selfish if it wanted all the other flowers in the garden to be both red and roses.”

"Why kid ourselves, people have nothing to say to one another... they all talk about their own troubles and nothing else. Each man for himself, the earth for us all. They try to unload their unhappiness on someone else...

...and in between they boast that they've succeeded in getting rid of their unhappiness, but everyone knows it's not true and they've simply kept it all to themselves. Since at the little game you get uglier and more repulsive as you grow older, you can't hope to hide your unhappiness, your bankruptcy, any longer. In the end your features are marked with that hideous grimace that takes twenty, thirty years or more to climb frm your belly to your face. That's all a man is good for, that and no more, a grimace that he takes a whole lifetime to compose. The grimace a man would need to express his true soul without losing any of it is so heavy and complicated that he doesn't always succeed in completing it."

People tend to make rules for others and exceptions for themselves.

The best way to sell yourself to others is first to sell the others to yourself. Check yourself against this list of obstacles to a pleasing personality:

• interrupting others
• sarcasm
• vanity
• being a poor listener
• insincere flattery
• finding fault
• challenging others without good cause
• giving unsolicited advice
• complaining
• attitude of superiority
• envy of others’ success
• poor posture and dress…

What is unacceptable is the fact that many people do not want to see their part in the mess. They refuse to see their own fault by pointing fingers at and highlighting the mistake of others. How many are sincerely willing to admit they provoked someone into acting like a monster? They don't want to acknowledge that there must be something about them that cause another to act a certain way.

Fault-finding is a dangerous game. While one is occupied scrutinizing the being of another person, (s)he fails to see what (s)he badly needs to see and change in him/herself. The more that (s)he passes the blame on others, the more that (s)he fails to improve his/her character. Hardly do people willingly forgive the mistakes of others the same way as they easily and willingly forgive their own. Nit-picking is probably the easiest way to divert people from seeing their flaws. But the damage is menacing.

Strangely enough, Christians do a lot of this. It is this holier-than-thou attitude that repels many unbelievers from receiving Christ's invitation for salvation. Many Christians abuse Biblical scriptures by pronouncing them aloud only to make the other follow what they feel this poor person needs to change in him/herself. In stead of letting GOD grow the seed, they force the seed open.

These are are just some of the lines you will hear from those who are supposed to show themselves "the light of the world": "do this" ..."do that" ..."I am right"... "you are wrong". "I know"... "you do not see the bigger picture, I do"... "You should've"... just to name a few.

They do not understand that their lives alone can move people, not their empty words. That their examples should've been enough. They do not realize that people observe what they say against what they do. They are not ashamed to point out the wrongs of others while they do the same wrongs. They claim to read the Bible, but just like what the apostle Paul said, "always learning and never able to arrive at a knowledge of the truth." They misunderstand the Word. They even misuse it for their own purpose -- to prove they are right and far superior than others.

Jesus Christ, HIMSELF, warned us,

"Do not judge so that you will not be judged. "For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. "Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother's eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? "Or how can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' and behold, the log is in your own eye? "You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother's eye."

Jesus didn't even say that we must not judge, at all. If we are to read carefully, HE emphasized that we are not to "hypocritically" judge our neighbors. Stop trying to remove someone else's mote while your own mote is evidently showing. Note that HE also used "speck" and "log". What you see is a speck and there is a log in your eye!

None of us is righteous, therefore, NONE of us has the right to judge anyone's life. We have more than enough flaws to deal with for us to have time to look at the flaws of others.

In fact, Jesus made it clear that He especially had a problem with the hypocrisy of the Jewish religious leaders of His time. In other confrontations with them, Jesus made some pretty strong statements against those leaders:

"Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and of the dish, but inside they are full of robbery and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee, first clean the inside of the cup and of the dish, so that the outside of it may become clean also. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men's bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness..." (Matthew 23:25-28)

Many strive to look clean. They think they can deceive everyone because they do look sleek and neat. But, the hate inside them comes out as naturally in their speech. Truly, "out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks." We cannot successfully hide what we have inside. We can dress up decently, make all attempts to sound pleasing, show a bright smile at all times... but, "As water reflects a face, so a man's heart reflects the man."

We must all remember that our righteousness come from Christ alone. No good works (esp no pretension) will help us out of our miserable state. We don't do good works because we are good. We do good because of the Holy Spirit, so that no one can boast. Let us get rid of the holier-than-thou mentality. We all fall short of the glory of GOD.