"Without tenderness there's something missing"

My dear friend Fred, who is one of my oldest and dearest friends I have never met in person, is a wonderful writer. In fact, it was the medium of blogging that Christ used to bring us together as friends. His old blog was Deep Furrows, but now he writes over at Late Papers. Last Friday he composed a post on tenderness that struck me. By "struck," I mean delivered a blow to me.

Fred wrote this: "A sensitivity to the joy of others— who would not prefer this in others? There are people we know who welcome our joys and give them room to blossom; but others tend to crush the joy, often without realizing what they're doing. A receptivity to our joy is something we all need to embrace happiness and to grow"

I don't know about you, but I always need to be reminded about tenderness, of my need for it and the need of others, a need Christ often desires to meet for others through me. Too often instead of being tender, I am hard-hearted towards others, being one of those who crushes joy.

Our Friday traditio for this week is "Tenderness" by General Public.

I don't know where I am but I know I don't like it/I open my mouth and out pops something spiteful/Words are so cheap, but they can turn out expensive/Words like conviction can turn into a sentence