This is a quote from the book Bo's Cafe which deals with relationships among people and while doing it reveals what we as the church should look like. It is also something that I have only experience in a group setting only once. It happened within what I call a subcultural of a church congregation where the main obstacles were the formal leadership of the congregation (Pastor, Church staff, Deacons, etc.). Even among my individual "friendships", it has only happened a couple of times.
I bring this up because since there some relationships forming within the alumni group that have the potential to be this way. For the first time in about 10 years, I have people in my life that I feel safe around. Now I am not talking about physical safety, but safety as described above. Now this can grow into relationships like the group in Bo's Cafe or not, I guess that is up to us.
All of us have problems. There are no all together people. Super religious people who stand above everyone and who are closer to God are just a myth and do not exist. People who present themselves this way are only showing a mask that is covering up all of their faults. These people can never truly be a part of a safe relationship because they are frauds, actors, hypocrites.
So the question is which direction do we go from here? I would like to close this blog with another quote from Bo's Cafe.
"This relational stuff, the good stuff? Well, its messy man. Because it demands that you care about something more than getting better before you can ever get better."
Dennis, I HAD to repost this on my FB page. Gosh, I so agree and "get" how you feel. Yes, safe is what it's called....very, very safe. Who would have ever thought that such could found in our NMHS Alumni of the 70s group (via Facebook), at the Circle Grill on Buckner, when we are AARP age? Seriously. Better late than never. A blessing from God, indeed, my friend. Wow, wow, wow
ReplyDeleteI think AARP age is when it happens. Hopefully by this time we have dropped the facades, pretenses, and superficiality of what we thought we should be and have become comfortable with who we are. Life is a process and this is just part of the process. Isn't it comforting to have people who have shared some of the same experiences, and with whom we can be ourselves - finally?
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