dear you

I’m here to understand you and not just listen to you.

I’m here to appreciate your words not just as words but within the context you find yourself in.

I’m here to put you, the person, ahead of you, the philosophical idea.

I’m here to see the ways that you’re right, even when you’re wrong.

I’m here to see the ways that I’m wrong, even when I’m right.

I’m here to accept the grain of truth even in your points of view that I reject.

I’m here to hear you when you need to be heard and respond only when response is what you really need.

I’m here to talk through your thoughts when you need to process externally, and I’m here to sit through silences when you need to process internally.

I’m here because God truly understands, and requests that I represent Him and His nature to all people.

Make no mistake, though, when I use the word "you", I do not mean the general-collective-amorphous-you; I mean you.

To you I make these promises, and to you I confess that I will break each of these individual promises listed above despite my best effort. Hopefully, that's enough.