separation moment

yesterday
I was invited to sit at another's table
to gather around the turkey

and while the food was amazing
and abundant
it was the moments
of a particular conversation
that gripped my heart
and was my most treasured gift

sitting in our midst
was a 30 something young man

there was a moment
when the conversation
turned to the question of choices

and he shared
that at this stage of his life
he has chosen
to reject Christ

he gave some of his reasons for doing so
and that he knew
those who believe in Christ
think he will go to hell
while they think they will go to heaven

and he is deeply hurt
in the knowing
that some think of him this way

and it is this very thinking
that causes a separation
between him and these others

and he lives in the pain
of this separation

and I heard the heart of Almighty God
who also lives in the pain of this separation

and I felt the pain of Christ
who came
not to bridge this separation
but to fill it with Himself

because if you build a bridge across chasm
the chasm is still there
but if you fill it in .............

I did not wish to invade the carefully placed
high-walled
broken glass topped boundaries
of this young man
these boundaries that loudly proclaimed
don't touch me

all I could do
was hug him in my heart

the unspoken question

can you love me
as I am
in the midst of my choices

lingered in the air
long after the conversation had shifted

and even today
fills my heart

it was a moment

I will never forget