There’s a silent strength associated with tenderness. Society, in general has skewed the idea of tender to the point where it’s almost a negative attribute to have. That sensitivity and softness are completely inappropriate for most people today, lest you stick out as some sort of wimp.
Time to change that false concept. Why not redesign tender and encourage more of it?
Tender is used to describe that delightful bite of meat, cooked perfectly yet so full of flavour. Tender is a precious newborn baby, unable to even hold up their own head, yet have you watched the force that a nurse uses with this little human?
I see examples of strength in tenderness in the Bible. The same power that created the world by speaking used a finger to write on stone. The same power that caused an earthquake also spoke with a quiet tone. The same power was able to sleep in the midst of a violent storm, the possibility of death imminent, but used words stopped the storm in time. The same power showed no fear to tormentors, yet touched and helped everyone possible.
Oh to be tender towards everyone, including those I can’t stand. Oh to be sensitive to give people the benefit of the doubt more often. Oh to be more compassionate…
We write because we want to, not because we have to. We write for fun, for joy, for discovery. We just write without worrying if it’s just right or not.
