We can’t do it alone. There are very few things that I can think of that offer any way for us to move into a deeper relationship with God without moving into deeper relationships with others. Realizing that there may be a few people (like our Desert Fathers and Mothers) who left everything in search of knowing Christ by spending practically all of their time in communion with God…the rest of are juggling all sorts of distractions. We need others to help us learn, grow and become more Christ-like.
Earlier this week I was having lunch with a group of people who have intentionally chosen to gather regularly to strengthen relationships. We are a multicultural sort of group including men, women, clergy, laity, and different races. Our purpose is two fold. We are interested in providing opportunities for others to become more educated on issues related to race and to become advocates as appropriate and we realize that to do this sort of work, we must begin with ourselves so we are working on our own “stuff”. Sometimes this includes challenging one another and asking questions to make us pause and self-reflect on why we respond to things the way that we do and how our response makes us feel. We are learning to process our own bias and blind spots. I was reminded that we can’t “own” our entire race’s issues but we can reflect on ourselves.
These growing friendships are not always easy, but sometimes as we learn there are growing pains associated. As we learn more about others and broaden our horizons, we get a better glimpse of God’s worldview that celebrates all of creation and the diversity within it. God has something to teach each of us personally, and God often speaks to us through others. Let us seek relationships with God’s agents who can help us, and give them permission to call us out and hold us accountable. And let us praise God for putting people in our path who can help us grow deeper.
Shalom y’all,
Claire
If you would like to print or share this edition of Claire…ification,
you are encouraged to use this pdf:
Claire – The Importance of Covenant Relationships – 09.08.2017
To read past editions – you are encouraged to follow this link:
http://capitaldistrictnc.org/clarie-ificaton/
