Chesed: Hebrew for kindness or benevolence
In my heart, sometime between 1980 and 1983, those hard years for me, I attuned myself to hearing when people became cruel and willfully caused pain, emotional hurt, and trauma. Today, I can pick it up immediately.
Nothing can ever take away those brutal blows, but you can do as I did. You can promise yourself that you won’t let negative comments make you retaliate, close off, or act unkindly.
I always told myself that these people and their comments would never change the kind, sweet feeling I had for everyone; that I would reverse any negativity with love, compassion, and empathy. To this day, I do not fight back (except in court) but I respond with quiet love, light, and divinity, spreading it to all I meet.
As I said in the poem, this has freed me from my past. I see and feel a divine presence guiding me in life, that things happen according to a divine reason and purpose.
It was up to me to choose to make myself a better person who learned from those experiences or continue as hurt, mean, and angry, and to pass that on to others.
I chose to stop that fugue. I chose to be, and to remain, positive and happy. I wish the same for you. If i can do it, you can do it, too.
DIVINE CRUELTY
I’ve known my share of cruelty
Mean people right to the core
They spoke the most callous words
Heartless from their very soul
Oh, how it bothered me
Beyond the breaking point
But with each hurtful word
My heart grew stronger
With every resounding beat
Now, no one can ever take away
My inner bravery!
I now recognize
How different I really was.
I realize how all those
Emotional experiences
Freed me from my past!
I can truly see my guiding light
Has enabled and empowered me!
I am the happiest
I could ever be.
I am a free
And gentle spirit now,
Knowing no boundaries!
You can order my poetry collection, including this poem, here: Reflections of My Heart.
Original text ©2024 by Karen Lynn-Chlup. All rights reserved. Image by
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