His words in response to my faithful testimony
cut deeply into my heart.
Her insistence of morality on one side only
wedged a hard lump in my throat.
My trusted friends 
with thoughts, ideas, and beliefs 
so different than my own.
Must I turn away, 
release these relationships to the universe, 
and move on? 
Or, perhaps, 
look within 
to my own 
prejudices*
and 
projections* 
that force me to react in fear; 
and release those instead to my God, 
the God who sees me,* 
so that 
I can truly see myself? 

*With thanks to Anthony de Mello and Hagar (see The Way to Love, by Anthony de Mello, and Genesis 16:13)