Something as simple as a beautiful cake can mean so many different things to so many people. It could bring to mind a beautiful wedding ceremony, monumental celebration, beautiful birthday, or a horrible marriage, a wedding disaster, the birthday of a deceased loved one, or a tragic event in someone's life. We never know what the simplest things mean to someone else, that is why it is very important to get to know someone, communicate with purpose. We may be unintentionally bringing up tragic events in a person's life. Although we can not avoid every common thing that may do this, it is still good to know how to handle a situation when it arises. For instance, a cake to me may bring up feelings about my divorce, being a widow, marrying the new love of my life, or an instance at my wedding that was traumatic, yet I had a love for cake long before any of this happened. For me it is a catch 22 when I see a cake because I have all of these emotions all at once; I have happiness, pain, and sorrow. Some people may smile because they are thinking about a deceased parent or sibling who walked them down the aisle on their wedding day or even a funny story about their surprise birthday.
I want to pose a question about Jesus and a common object and how He might have felt, to bring it all into the perspective of being sensitive to one's triggers.
The cross, it bears so many meanings to us all, salvation, deliverance, sin, and even forgiveness perhaps. If Jesus looked at the cross, I am sure this would mean this to Him as well, however, would He visualize the beatings, torture, mockery, pain, the countless miles He walked carrying it while being beaten? Would He be overwhelmed with exhaustion and trauma? Sometimes we only get an understanding if we pose a question with Jesus being involved. I think this only poses a good point to have you focus on how the person next to you may feel when simple triggers are presented to them.
Let's be sensitive to triggers today. It could send someone into a very depressed or sad state.
