Getting along with people can often be a challenge. Everyone is trying their best to do what they feel is right, yet we still clash. We upset people, people upset us, sometimes there are grudges, families get divided, and so on. My family for one is full of schisms and emotional wounds that don’t seem like will ever heal. And one thing I’ve noticed from this is that everyone involved feels like they have done what is right, but yet the wounds persist. How can this be? How can two people that feel like they are doing the right thing be so divided?

Sometimes life feels like a journey through the dark, where we are fumbling around trying to find our way, bumping into things and people that we can’t see. It’s hard to see in this place, and people get mad at each other for bumping into them. Not only are we walking around in the dark, but we expect everyone else to always be able to see where they are going when we ourselves can’t even see. We are all trying to find our way through the dark as gracefully as possible, but people are always getting hurt, and forgiveness and grace often feels like a scarcity.

We live in a dark world, and it doesn’t seem like we realize that very often. People do things we don’t like because they can’t see clearly, and we get bitter and hold a grudge for it like we can see any better and don’t ever hurt anyone. We hold other people to a higher standard than we hold ourselves. I’ve said and done a lot of things that have hurt people in my arrogance that I regret. And the most frustrating part about this is that I often don’t realize I have acted in arrogance or immaturity till later. I think to myself, “am I that much in the dark that I can’t see my own arrogance before I let it out to the world?” Life will always be filled with remorse and apologies because of how much we seem to be stumbling around, bumping into everything as we try to make it through life. I would think I would be more gracious and forgiving to the people that rub me the wrong way, annoy me, or say things that I feel are ridiculous, but too often I write them off as “stupid people,” which makes me a hypocrite. For I too say ridiculous things and annoy people, for I too am walking around in the dark trying to find my way. No matter how hard we try to feel around and not bump into something or someone, we always seem to do so. When we get to the end, all we can do is say we tried our best. We tried our best not to hurt anyone, and we tried our best to forgive people when they bumped into us. The path through life is a dark one, and we could all use some grace as we tread on through.