Edited by Jim McCrory, Monday, 21 July 2025, 14:40
Dear Friend,
My wife and I met you sitting on a park bench. At first you seemed happy, but you revealed you were depressed. You cried. You were heartbroken.
When your heart is broken, and the world feels suddenly unfamiliar, it’s hard to think clearly. I want to say that gently, because I know you’re hurting. It’s not that you don’t want to move forward or find peace. It’s that pain has a way of clouding everything. Grief and confusion sit like fog in the mind, and when you’re in that place, wise decisions can feel out of reach.
You’ve loved someone deeply, and they have not returned that love. That is a kind of sorrow many know, but few talk about. It leaves you vulnerable, not just emotionally, but spiritually too. You may question your worth, your choices, even your identity. You may replay moments, imagine different outcomes, and feel drawn again and again to their world, hoping something might change.
Please hear this with kindness: this is not weakness. This is human. When love is unreturned, we sometimes hold on more tightly, hoping to rewrite the ending like its some kind of romance novel. But that kind of holding on keeps us from healing. It keeps us from living fully in the present and from seeing ourselves as we truly are.
You are not unloved. Though this one person did not love you back, there is a love greater still, and it does not change or falter. The Bible speaks of “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.” That is a promise. Not a quick solution or a call to suppress your feelings, but a reminder that God sees you. He understands the pain of rejection. He knows what it is to love and not be loved in return. And He is near to the broken-hearted.
Let Him be near to you now.
There will come a time when your mind is clearer, and your steps feel more sure. But for now, give yourself grace. Don’t rush the process. Be honest with your emotions. Cry if you need to. Rest when you can. And gently, little by little, try to turn your gaze away from what has hurt you and toward what heals.
You are more than this heartbreak. One day you will look back and see how far you’ve come. You will feel joy again. You will love again. And next time, you will be loved in return.
With care and quiet strength,
Your friends.
Image generated with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot
Broken-hearted
Dear Friend,
My wife and I met you sitting on a park bench. At first you seemed happy, but you revealed you were depressed. You cried. You were heartbroken.
When your heart is broken, and the world feels suddenly unfamiliar, it’s hard to think clearly. I want to say that gently, because I know you’re hurting. It’s not that you don’t want to move forward or find peace. It’s that pain has a way of clouding everything. Grief and confusion sit like fog in the mind, and when you’re in that place, wise decisions can feel out of reach.
You’ve loved someone deeply, and they have not returned that love. That is a kind of sorrow many know, but few talk about. It leaves you vulnerable, not just emotionally, but spiritually too. You may question your worth, your choices, even your identity. You may replay moments, imagine different outcomes, and feel drawn again and again to their world, hoping something might change.
Please hear this with kindness: this is not weakness. This is human. When love is unreturned, we sometimes hold on more tightly, hoping to rewrite the ending like its some kind of romance novel. But that kind of holding on keeps us from healing. It keeps us from living fully in the present and from seeing ourselves as we truly are.
You are not unloved. Though this one person did not love you back, there is a love greater still, and it does not change or falter. The Bible speaks of “the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation.” That is a promise. Not a quick solution or a call to suppress your feelings, but a reminder that God sees you. He understands the pain of rejection. He knows what it is to love and not be loved in return. And He is near to the broken-hearted.
Let Him be near to you now.
There will come a time when your mind is clearer, and your steps feel more sure. But for now, give yourself grace. Don’t rush the process. Be honest with your emotions. Cry if you need to. Rest when you can. And gently, little by little, try to turn your gaze away from what has hurt you and toward what heals.
You are more than this heartbreak. One day you will look back and see how far you’ve come. You will feel joy again. You will love again. And next time, you will be loved in return.
With care and quiet strength,
Your friends.
Image generated with the assistance of Microsoft Copilot