I have a friend that I love. Unfortunately, she has not been in touch recently, nor have I. We had an upset and she withdrew. With some honesty and integrity, she shared it really had nothing to do with me, but she needed to have some time to herself to do some more 'work' since she was angry and blaming me and knew there was nothing I had done to deserve it.

I love this kind of openness and honesty. When woman are able to look inside and share their own vulnerabilities, I know this is someone I can trust and with whom I want to be close. It is a principle I try to live by myself. Rigorous self-honesty, vulnerability and self responsibility is the foundation of authentic intimacy. Period.

So why do I remain so angry, hurt and personally offended by her imposed moratorium on our friendship? When I reflect on her and our relationship, there is mostly self-righteous anger and condemnation with only fleeting moments of compassion and understanding. I want compassion and understanding most of the time, with only fleeting moments of self-righteous condemnation. What's the deal?

Meditation and prayer is often the only place I have some peace. My Spiritual Guides remind me that we are all wounded and that it is in our woundedness that we most need Spirit and Divine mercy. In my desire to love others with selfless compassion, I come face to face with my own warts and in doing so, I can admit my desire for transformation and healing. From here, receiving love begets love~forgiveness of self begets forgiveness of others~and in my humble wartedness, I learn compassion for another's warts. We all have them. Different sizes and shades perhaps, but lumpy and sometimes blistery just the same.

So today, rather than an internal self assault for my lack of compassion and understanding, I can expose my warts and know that I am loved from where I start. As I expose my own wartedness in the sacredness of my own Divine prayer vigil, I'm less afraid of exposing them out in the light of the physical world. If you show me yours, I'll show you mine?!

Got Warts?