He laughed and talked for ages in the local language. All that smiling I assumed it promised happiness. But later the missionary told us he had been talking about some really tragic and sad things, such as his child dying. When I was new to cross cultural life I felt betrayed. I thought the smile promised happiness, but it didn't.
My husband, full of relief ran to the library to borrow a stack of books to read for his essay. We thought a pain free day was the promise of good health. But later the sickness consumed him again and the stack of books went unread. When we were new to chronic illness life we felt betrayed. We thought a good day promised recovery, but it didn't.
I felt betrayed in both cases, but actually promises were never made. Learning to reinterpret has been part of learning our new normal as we cross cultures and live with pain.
This week the Five Minute Friday link up word prompt is PROMISE.
Photo by Allef Vinicius on Unsplash
3 comments:
Powerful post. Thanks for sharing. Life seems to be re-interpretation altogether. Blessings to you both!
Thanks for sharing about your cross cultural struggles. As a CCK, I can definitely relate to the idea of unmade promises and unfulfilled expectations. Keep going and gworing and learning!
Thanks for your comments Mari-Anna and Katha.
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