%PDF-1.7 1 0 obj << /Type /Catalog /Outlines 2 0 R /Pages 3 0 R >> endobj 2 0 obj << /Type /Outlines /Count 0 >> endobj 3 0 obj << /Type /Pages /Kids [6 0 R 19 0 R ] /Count 2 /Resources << /ProcSet 4 0 R /Font << /F1 8 0 R /F2 9 0 R /F3 10 0 R /F4 11 0 R /F5 12 0 R /F6 14 0 R >> /XObject << /I1 15 0 R /I2 16 0 R /I3 23 0 R /I4 24 0 R >> /ExtGState << /GS1 17 0 R /GS2 18 0 R /GS3 21 0 R /GS4 22 0 R >> >> /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] >> endobj 4 0 obj [/PDF /Text /ImageC ] endobj 5 0 obj << /Producer (dompdf 1.0.2 + CPDF) /CreationDate (D:20250122133923+00'00') /ModDate (D:20250122133923+00'00') >> endobj 6 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 7 0 R >> endobj 7 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1786 >> stream xWMW1_Y[Wx =8y۠T /(-y,~QgEsH+%Y,:JiHГ Bs>O%o#R8VxfM*gښUx"çyV|xo `A%rnN*'P@32Gn͒L {P H\8JІkH>\@}; 5P, }Fi@X43l~BN k[~o.+;R?.ZH^kV̠Ue.ο>inGN%-__rRQ[Ke 0aXM&t<-Dk, f3\JѡNΫGL(# $sz:++KF23R1YV^dpeEiM8eErW 3se*N.C@6aу;VL#xXt(3~UI$P4 avxQ.cxk )B##ϓЭ )H*?Fd=źJc"297?pƔ;G/PWj ,hPNpnSܔp/vɛ>8@zY[7q:}C<<`BmO8Yw3f[񑳬 zܖW9RkݾC>t|/$غ~iu:zLS@ endstream endobj 8 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F1 /BaseFont /Helvetica /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 9 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F2 /BaseFont /Times-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 10 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F3 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 11 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F4 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Bold /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 12 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F5 /BaseFont /Helvetica-Oblique /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 13 0 obj [6 0 R /Fit] endobj 14 0 obj << /Type /Font /Subtype /Type1 /Name /F6 /BaseFont /Times-Roman /Encoding /WinAnsiEncoding >> endobj 15 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj 17 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 0.3 >> endobj 18 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 0.3 >> endobj 19 0 obj << /Type /Page /MediaBox [0.000 0.000 612.000 792.000] /Parent 3 0 R /Contents 20 0 R >> endobj 20 0 obj << /Filter /FlateDecode /Length 1338 >> stream xVM6ﯘc xlM(z,E*"eIݾ6`z,kZy# -5=|q-2[.s8pU2+;:SNy- w}Ж^UpMΚ+]thIU-gUR.3R}j3?;okzqxg/MI9XBh>#Zh;YpG]c)“u!Kv+0ۚRHuTkJV"xø˂6xVku z7'hu*_lV6ą.dū gFT@Yvrp H) 'mg6*hԡս`čCFo]]#Sg<`pbFפ@Qps~dL=*M-oVuK4nڡrul7j&2TF"2U)(@ZAg+KJur6⇂8I<Dlv#C >UrϖΤ+B'@\-zDwڏ>-R*|t' !?QcEb[yJh7԰W޳e?s]D>4eUO*PįNxU}R~[T&^`q In,yBG1@ RZ>^slM#O^rq(]@2iJ61Ԇ="B"*AfhÂN mzx<q^ڔKW 6&XO8juW5Ku5ϫ=)4U[D 9q-7TezYQM9|2kw88mLΦV7!=)!E%gڋFIgaL!i>aN"CPP{0eV2Q<+ ++CPPEѶ΋ BHm LvJ@g'-{G(#wRg NoΓ؋ |,ߧ$ SUt#Wq]mGw$ Fe=N?q[XVhrt::=v19Pb˹_xSUe[<[ K6ڧt+JQ8!G(OuXz8b%4z/:~!N OZe1]8^Gw>ܾ\=[;,0uqNgn8= ~-7i*GUm]|'.d -,gl|rDeP<_v8 endstream endobj 21 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /CA 1 >> endobj 22 0 obj << /Type /ExtGState /BM /Normal /ca 1 >> endobj 23 0 obj << /Type /XObject /Subtype /Image /Width 550 /Height 140 /Filter /FlateDecode /DecodeParms << /Predictor 15 /Colors 1 /Columns 550 /BitsPerComponent 8>> /ColorSpace /DeviceGray /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 5329>> stream xqDǯ뺒$ILfff&I335Lf2\3I2L&_3$3I$d+$\W=9y9lLss99P`0 `0 `0 `0 !U_:~u = F~sZŻدns⃪Qg¢G(F[-s͓^ DZ>d>3Dr#\OΉ, ZFwjux<;4Ƀxز#_v?nO<|{7c(b{Oū}w[N e~Hs䎷wwOn<1B.k+%U=eԘ -mCj)t:}c'ϓ*n"-ovkZ?R"V%wʶ7s]eX&eǕq` 1-2e JYHCFOUam 7:(Ԙt_@ހN t{B~ :V@}o#7!z^&zFL:ʤn X<- %"bNWqF c` M'4?cH-V`ǵAF>=#Ěm75dB I&7E5<>-͏їFǿl3M6x]Y&)2 FoΌ N.<t i4wL\^=_|Fo؏IȄ ik$ɄL?{?|tmCޮ=~T&iTevϷ'奔s?EꋄLPY͹箵?@L:Aˤ3y_:9AtA*0qVe- e6g)%a}.qKcI V/xʤzM|\ HSql0;*%+Mذ-闛obebu2iU&lLbtIcxb5^B#8 ޮaʻ _ w>j+L:$"&O;bZ K1 jmU玫ݢ=S/J<WO2'_yUPvp=`"aL5 Nl7"rlQT޼==-I[Se* F'(\`󴯉'{:נnVZ TG6*r$Tyx^LJū.C<3` %ANrxUo"˄ 0&$tO F&bIcW3GG͈ y!{m,LkCI d,(2"@ dR%F1thUL8Rݒ^+v9^?sʯYעDl~Qd" N2sc|ov}=F,3K#vxIvG^,[OM&wI[#,Jޙ\ض;L^fv[LbyYvM#/EI#/Zס$(ڼ ," &LK/IF i-Zx彰픢]MKeR n(PhV'LҸ\f$w/ e]"mɷWO߻˱ KerSPe (ӼGMȈ}X?ʍto7ZKl+81_Y&ǡd uʤ1Vw!sQ"/$zNkw(t)2BWQW"˄OXLp:e‡# וzn2F}qlc5ؾ:WH xLz LP:d# Q>(MRېd2Qt$o~R$YR5,-nޜLr_βehd" 2k1lvO X= eC p+[R=jU!֖}_DޟY2 (*wkZQ>Fl̲soR#^u3hhyTԲt.LtD8sk4z4Rbl@zp4hy0Tn\=.fnő Y/:TC9<@fSI$:QR/bq7DfR/ֻn)Vqd"䳽˄GL;ϝRG顼n&%Sv eFv,L"t}I&N> D73]$e)( ;]XhL`kSzJlcC$<)깍h}dr,1ܝRM뭍eMa $?e3f8΍҈&P(x+JU5{I 3 M- ;7|#G9 !\œ&=xp2,L{-`?OW":4uܚEadv ~9q.VdV%UT@73$@W¯B!ݒaVLH:!opr;gAɀiήpfߙR E/IDO*Luf0}{7mfyDxT.g)w5RvHx#Z]&M$ gZUTt+lZqZ_;a&JaG,-JLJDFIcV|:I3nB&;N0Lna=Y_Gl,p5,,kc EKgd;2vt7selT9˸sX޲.6r<1!| L0lTMS1?Xsf cq )KSgBB&׭x. v c@^Yk΀v],E[ɾ QhYyXXC2)g/J@su1ScL, ?C[{V2i͛!סӠ&> 6lu>4Ƕʤ|=12鱧l{^:a/Y%~].26G: p^CZ V&Vedҟ?RrX7d#I]ՕuL1 ?_ /12IEh ̴b<ӯ^e _ϝ䰻^]vy> /ColorSpace /DeviceRGB /BitsPerComponent 8 /Length 873>> stream x1j08-K/)],) &gi+:U̲\"9H!@"9H!@"9H!@eY.Z[p_E{QHKV[/`j%ʒcP,SX4W{7urd5ɱPr:-ֆʇX$$zfZpClbw7z{[]qGlwlGlZiM,ߺ7x}w` L9=3zpWL9 j)ۓB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$e]k` B$ DrB$ DrB$ DrB$/؋ endstream endobj xref 0 25 0000000000 65535 f 0000000009 00000 n 0000000074 00000 n 0000000120 00000 n 0000000461 00000 n 0000000498 00000 n 0000000647 00000 n 0000000750 00000 n 0000002609 00000 n 0000002716 00000 n 0000002824 00000 n 0000002934 00000 n 0000003047 00000 n 0000003163 00000 n 0000003192 00000 n 0000003302 00000 n 0000008877 00000 n 0000010008 00000 n 0000010067 00000 n 0000010126 00000 n 0000010231 00000 n 0000011643 00000 n 0000011700 00000 n 0000011757 00000 n 0000017332 00000 n trailer << /Size 25 /Root 1 0 R /Info 5 0 R /ID[<3718f3e903375dbbc61ffe50ee170bc9><3718f3e903375dbbc61ffe50ee170bc9>] >> startxref 18463 %%EOF On the Corner | Caring Magazine

Vol. #28

Grace Uncovered

Read Issue

Latest Impact StoriesView All

Popular Topics

PopularView All

On the Corner

February 12, 2005
3 minute read
Total
0
Shares
0
0
0
Listen to this article

Cut off

by Robert Docter – 

Love disappears in slow motion.

The young woman wandered away silently, very gradually—absenting herself from family gatherings with increasing frequency until, it seemed, she had disappeared. Where once she had been a vital member, she now isolated herself. Where once she had belonged, now she was separate. Where once she had been close, now she was distant, alone, going her own way. Once, she had melded her desire for independence with a maturity that maintained membership, but now that autonomy, once gained, was buried by disengagement. She no longer called—no longer sent birthday cards or Christmas greetings. Feelings of attachment no longer delivered warmth. Now, she felt only cold pain.

She had chosen to cut herself off from those who shared her name. And in the process those once described as “family” now reciprocated with their own cut-off messages.

She abandoned once cherished values because of their source, now dishonored in her mind. She chose a new lifestyle and lived it—one completely different from that lived by those she blamed.

It had all started with a misunderstanding that no one had handled effectively. There had been strong feeling, reverberating accusations, allegations of blame, imposition of guilt—and then, most viciously, the absence of communication. At the time it had seemed like a minor problem, but when contaminated by mutual refusal to seek clarification, to maintain communication, to search for explanation—the level of the conflict had escalated and the quality of the relationship had deteriorated. Hurt became anger and screened any rational meaning from reality. The connections between the parties became seriously damaged, and then, as the shadows of time
enveloped them, they were destroyed.

Most seem unable to remember the event that triggered the change in relationships. It has been lost in the quagmire of ineffective management. Now, the memory traces are saturated with misperceptions, misunderstandings, and missed opportunities.

Time has soothed the pain, but unexplained cues awaken it. All involved feel heavy, emptiness—spaces filled only with ache. Each copes in different ways. All appear to seek a remedy, but each believes the responsibility resides with the other.

People wander away from church families in the same slow, silent manner—cut off, ignored, judged. Once they were there, and now they’re not. Once they were active, and now they’ve disappeared. Too often, it begins with relationships gone sour. Someone inexplicably delivers a large package of hurt—or makes a judgment about another’s child—or criticizes an effort—or condemns someone to eternal damnation. People stop talking—not even making eye contact—abandonment describes the consequences.

Often it’s little more than unchecked misunderstanding. Some-times it’s simply a poor choice of words. If confronted poorly, defensiveness raises its ugly head, and what had once been a scrape now is an open sore as loud voices or quiet muttering ooze their bloody residue from wounds laid bare, ignored to fester unbandaged, no caring evident, grace absent.

People cut themselves off from God as well. They judge him inadequate. They ridicule him in their conversation. They conclude him to be uncaring. Gradually, that “let-down” feeling begins to shift their belief system, and what once had been constructive doubt now boils over into non-belief.

God, however, will never let us go—even while allowing us complete freedom to choose to love him or not. He never gives up. He’s always available. He always understands. He tells us when we hurt him, and if we seek continuing communication with him, he will answer. He’s never public in his disappointment in our choices, and his grace is never absent and also, never ending. He’s inescapable. You see—he knows what love really is. He invented it.

Download this page as a PDF

You May Also Like