For whatever reason I have had the urge to blog now for several days. I am one of those people that love reading blogs but have a hard time posting myself.
On Sunday mornings, Mike has been teaching a class on the book A Pilgrim's Heart by Darryl Tippens. The premise of the book is thinking about spiritual disciplines that we tend to overlook or not practice very well. The conversation has been interesting and challenging. The first few weeks of topics have included Emptying, Welcoming, Resting, and Befriending. All of these things are challenging to me. I want to live an intentional life that strives to rest in the presence of God and befriend others.
In many ways these four topics are connected. Our culture today thrives on busyness. A result of this busyness seems to be surface relationships. We fear letting others know us too well for fear that they might judge us. But yet I think we keep ourselves busy because we are longing to find connections with people.
God designed us to live in community with other people. He did not call creation good until he created Eve for Adam. Jesus appointed 12 disciples to be his community and to be community for each other. I know that the community that surrounds me through faith, family, and work are indespensable. It would be even more difficult to exist without these communities. The relationships that are cultivated with these people continually challenge, encourage, and support me throughout each day, week, month, and year.
Yet it is so difficult to welcome and befriend. I have to allow these communities to do serve these roles. Others need community just as much as I do. My calling as a Christian convicts me to welcome and befriend, yet I struggle so much to do this. Where do we find a balance of reaching out but also needing to be surrounded by our own communities.
I pray that God will continue to cultivate in me that ability to reach out and befriend others especially those that are not like me.
What do you think? Where do you struggle with this?
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3 comments:
Hey imagine my surprise to check on you and find a blog!! Sorry I did not come around sooner.
I struggle the least with welcoming. I am sooo good at greeting and welcoming-into my life, my home, my things.
All of the others are off the charts bad. I can't seem to empty or rest and I long to befriend but find myself hopelessly unable to follow through because of day-to-day busyness. I am not sure the answer but I know Satan is smiling at how busy we all are. Divide and conquer is his plan.
I really agree with alot of what you said !:)
Through my own experience with "dealing" (if you will) with be-friending, I have really struggled with people who act and say that they really want friendship/sisterhood/church life. Yet once they realize that the only way to have that is by one on one relationships with others they pull away and try to find 100 reasons "why" to leave or not be friends anymore, rather than just being honest and saying they don't want to.
What do you do when you open your heart and you do welcome and be-friend, but all that those people do is be cruel and make false accusations because of how they're feeling. When in reality how their feeling is all in their own heads.
It's almost enough to make you never want to open up again, but I personally just am not like that.
Deborah
I'm with Deborah, the pain of trying to open up and be real outweighs the positive,the wounds are too recent, maybe in time.
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