I recently went home to visit my blood relatives... although the circumstances were kind of bleak, it was nice to see people who share the same DNA that I have in my body.
Over this summer break, it's come to my attention that I don't do a great job of reaching out to people... not like I'd like to anyway... Some of it's because I have a young son... some of it is because by the end of the day and all the things I need to do, I am spent... and some of it is because I fight against being a misanthrope. And some of that is because I've been hurt so much, some of it is because I am so worn out and the introvert ME needs a recharge, and some of it is because... well, it's just not possible to interact with all the people that I want to interact with in a limited 24- hour period. So anyway... I AM trying to do better in this area, but will give myself ALL the grace I need to fail in this area...
This blog is already not making sense in my head so I'm not sure that it will be any better on here... but this is what I've been thinking about... with no real answer... yet...
Many times in my life, my Church (see capital C... not specific to any church that I am currently attending!) family has come around me and "adopted" me when my own blood relatives decided to disown me.... so many tangible ways... ways that would take me a long time to recount...
When I was visiting my grandmother in the hospital that I was born in, I greeted a pastor and his wife who had pastored my family when I was a child... "You remember Brother and Sister Rogers, don't you, Buffy?" Well, of course I did! And my mom and I shared several, "do you remember when you" stories... "Do you remember when you came over and helped us with that plumbing problem when my dad was off-shore? You crawled under the house in your slacks and best shoes to help us out!"
I started thinking about how in the church that I grew up in we called each other "Brother Bob" and "Sister Sue." My great-aunt attended the church I grew up in and it messed with my head for my momma to call her "Sister Ward." How was Aunt Polly... Sister Ward?
But it threw me off... Brother and Sister? I giggled to myself. Hadn't I gotten too cool to call my uh... fellow church ... people... fellow Christ Communitians.... uh... yeah... to call them Brother Smith and Sister Biff? I mean, wasn't that SSOOOOOO like, 1992?
Well, this theme of Church family has come back to me during this week in a variety of ways... Sunday's sermon... conversations with new Church family members.... a card from friends writing to tell me that they were praying for me.... and I thought about how truly we are family... And what if I called y'all "sister" and "brother" on a Sunday morning.... would it remind me... would it remind you... would it show the world... that we are family?
Here's one of Christ Community's Core Values:
Authentic Relationships: Because God created us for community, we devote ourselves to building healthy relationships -- Demonstrated by... engaging in life together with transparency, humility, compassion, and a commitment to speaking the truth in love (Acts 2:42-47; Rom. 12:15-16; Eph. 4:14-15; I John 4:10-12). [http://ccclive.org/aboutus.html] -- which I love because it doesn't leave room for any bologna... and yet it leaves room for me to be this spiritual mess!!
And I am no where NEAR having this one assimilated to my spiritual DNA... that is to say I KNOW that I don't have this one NAILED down (so put down that rock you were about to throw... or better yet, just point that finger in another direction) because this is an idea that is JUST starting to bubble under the surface of my scalp... I know that I have a lot of over come to do a better job of being Church family... so lift up a prayer for me.... maybe I'll start by greeting you with "brother" or "sister" on Sunday morning... and I'll probably feel stupid for doing it... for putting myself out there... for being so vulnerable... but so what? If I can't look like a goof with family... then I'm in big trouble!
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