December and the blues it brings

Two of my friends just got dumped by their exes.

I cannot imagine how hard it is to be dumped and much more so in december. Both were in really long term stable relationships before the other party decided they had enough and wanted out. They were also brutal in their cutting and I almost wondered if there was any love at all in the first place. How can love possibly grow from so fiery hot to icy cold in such a short span of time?

Unlike physical death, there's nothing to bury when a relationship dies. A part of your heart dies along with it and while the rest remains in smithereens scattered all over hard ground, threatening even an innocent part like your feet as you try to navigate your way out of the cesspool of pain. To top it all off, being dumped in December sucks to the core. There's the festivities and the cheer and no one will even look twice at you bleeding away.

The relationship just evaporates, with no evidence that it was ever there. As you watch the other party who left you in the dust move in with the speed of  lightning to new pastures, the sting of abandonment cuts deeper. Then there's the barrage of questions, doubts and regret. Then with the christmas carols going on at full blast just about everywhere, you wonder and wonder if anyone ever noticed you're dying inside.

I think this is my ministry. To notice the hurting and be their friend when the world chooses to not acknowledge their pain or just heartlessly move on with the spirit of cheer.

I'm privileged to be on-call when the crisis happened. And I remember how the fresh stings hurt like it was just yesterday. I remember being dumped and then dumping. So yes, I'll be there to baby sit you and you. Until you embark on new exploits and leave me behind in the dust again.