The other night I attended a party to welcome a new minister to our staff. I was flying solo with my son because my husband was on shift; in spite of being ten minutes late I was the second person to arrive. As other people appeared, I staked my claim to a small patch of floor and brought out all the toys and books necessary to keep my little guy occupied. As people began to arrive and make the rounds hugging and greeting I remained in my perch wary of my son's tendency to get underfoot very quickly. About twenty minutes into the party I began a conversation with a friend of mine when I looked down and realized that my shirt was inside out. In a nanosecond I recalled all of the people I had hugged and spoken to and wondered how in the world I had not been notified of my blunder. As I escaped to the bathroom to right my shirt I decided only one of two things could have happened; either everyone I know is really oblivious to me and didn't notice the grossly obvious inside-out shirt OR everyone had noticed and no one had the courage to let me in on the secret.I can think of many times in my life when a friend or loved one has had their "shirt inside out", when they were unknowingly wearing the big fat red flag of burnout, distraction, hopelessness, or complacency and I am either to caught up in myself to see or I see and I am too afraid to say something. Just the other day a good friend of mine pulled me aside and asked me about my postpartum depression and although it was a tiny bit embarrassing it was so refreshing to know that she cared enough about me to talk with me openly about it. As I look back on the times in my life when I've unknowingly raised the red flag and at the people who both noticed the sign and said or did something about it, I can't help but wonder whose flags I am on the lookout for.
Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above
yourselves.
Romans 12:10
yourselves.
Romans 12:10
Your thoughts?
2 comments:
Hi Meagan,
This is a great post. Everyone has been in the position of eating lunch with some friends and seeing the spinach on someone else's teeth. It is always an interesting event when someone points this out. It really tells you a lot about the person. (The speaker, not the spinach-eater ;-)
A related thing that bugs me all the time at church is people who refuse to ask for help or ever share a concern for prayers. My speech goes something like this: Doesn't it make you feel so good when you help out your friends? (They always answer yes.) Then why do you never give your friends the opportunity to feel this for themselves by helping you?
I haven't changed any lives with this yet, but I have made a lot of people rethink their independent attitudes. It comes down to this: if you can't give up a tiny piece of youself to me, a trusted friend, then how are you ever going to give your whole self to God?
Thanks for reading this far. Keep up the great work.
- Dave
Dave -
Great point! I just had a conversation with a colleague the other day about the phenomenon of people jumping at the opportunity to wash someone else's feet but refusing to have their own feet washed when participating in a foot washing ceremony. What is it about our society, or probably more accurately, our pride that makes us feel so uncomfortable about being vulnerable, transparent, or even served?
I actually have friends that I go to for advice because I know they will shoot straight with me and not give me some sugar-coated or politically correct answer. To me, those friends are my true friends because I know they care more about me as a person and about my spiritual formation as Christian than whether or not their honesty will hurt my feelings.
Thanks for the encouraging words and for stopping by!
Meg
Post a Comment