What does it mean to be? It means to be everything God has created you to you be. It means delighting in the process of understanding your gifts and passions. It means being free to walk your own path, and to enjoy it. It means to share that path with others, and shed light so that they may see their path as well. Each walk is different. My path will look differently than your path. It will take discipline also to not compare the paths. It is okay for each path to be different. For if we were all walking the same path, there would be no differences. So do not tell me I need to get married right away. Do not tell me I need to look a certain way. Do not tell me I need to be involved in that particular way. For when I sit and be, when I sit at the feet of my Jesus, he will lighten that path for me. He will place the vanilla scented candles on that path. And he will walk it with me as well. Through the valleys. Through the meadows. Through the deserts. And there will be moments of joy, of frolicking hand in hand. There will be moments of thirst, where I must lean on him or I will perish. There will be moments where I do not want to walk with him anymore, where I have found my own path. But can I know him? Yes. I can know him. I can know and trust him. I will soar on the wings of an eagle. I will be free. And who is stopping me from jumping into the sky? Myself. But again, to know him allows me to know who I am. What I am capable of, what I have been created for. And I believe it is to be. To really see people. To offer a presence that takes in their whole story, takes in all of what they have done, good and bad. To take it in and say that is you. Not to count things against them. Not to analyze and judge. But to see, acknowledge, and be okay with it. Being requires time. All good things require sacrifice. Being requires you to stop looking around from person to person, with a shifting gaze. It tells you to stop. It tells you to close your eyes, take some deep breaths and realize you’re okay. Being means looking at someone. Seeing them. Looking into their heart, acknowledging their pains, joys, fears, hurts, and passions. You cannot see someone when you are only seeing yourself. It is not about trying to make everyone understand you, but rather trying to understand others. So stop. See someone. Let your heart be moved by that person at that time. Allow yourself to be so deeply touched by presence that you cannot help but love that person, you cannot help but want to understand them. It will not come naturally. It is a gift only God can give you. It is something only God can teach me. So teach me God. May I stop looking so intently on myself, on what will happen to me. May I shift my gaze. On you and them. Only in your strength, in your will.