totally normal and totally offended
yes...yes it's true. i am normal. more later.
as for totally offended. well i guess it's a half truth. i assume i am not offended but annoyed. i communicated to my friend ben the other day that my new pet peeve has changed. no longer is the camel chewing with your mouth open my biggest annoyance, but that of unreturned phone calls. now another is slowly rounding third for a in the park home run. the annoyance of insensitivity. you give and give and i find those people who take and take.
i started a book a while ago titled, "safe people" by cloud and townsend. humm...and i remember not finishing because i was so thoroughly convicted by how i have choosen the people who have surrounded me. the takers. those who take your kindness, thoughtfulness, sensitivity and make you think "why do i even try".
so questions of community and togetherness dwell in the shadows. who are these people? are they people you tolerate? are they people you trust? are they people you love? what if you try but it's fake? if you know me at all...you know i have a hard time masking my emotions.
if your community is those you choose to live life with...what if you are not near them. what if your community is distant and those around seem as replacements? is this fair?
hold on. let me stop here. by no means i am truly making this completely personal. i have some excellent connections...many undeserved and completely authentic. and i am truly thankful for these few.
webster's dictionary states community:
1. a unified body of individuals
2. the people with common interests living in a particular area.
3. an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location.
4. a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society.
so i believe our personal definitions are subjective. near or far...there seems to be no clarity. how do you grow through life together so far apart? all four of these definitions were immensely diverse from one another. so is our community applying what is nearest to your physical location? isn't it healthy to have tangible, real, invevitable assurance through a physical being?
is it your loved ones... your family... your acquaintances or the people you simply tolerate? maybe. is it selfish to want to pick and choose and desire to surround yourself with those too distant companions? the reality anchors itself with the truth...you are called to love everyone...but not to like them so much. so why do we subject ourselves to this prolonging torture? are we happy in these substitutes? who are we to be so choosy?
where is true community?
as for totally offended. well i guess it's a half truth. i assume i am not offended but annoyed. i communicated to my friend ben the other day that my new pet peeve has changed. no longer is the camel chewing with your mouth open my biggest annoyance, but that of unreturned phone calls. now another is slowly rounding third for a in the park home run. the annoyance of insensitivity. you give and give and i find those people who take and take.
i started a book a while ago titled, "safe people" by cloud and townsend. humm...and i remember not finishing because i was so thoroughly convicted by how i have choosen the people who have surrounded me. the takers. those who take your kindness, thoughtfulness, sensitivity and make you think "why do i even try".
so questions of community and togetherness dwell in the shadows. who are these people? are they people you tolerate? are they people you trust? are they people you love? what if you try but it's fake? if you know me at all...you know i have a hard time masking my emotions.
if your community is those you choose to live life with...what if you are not near them. what if your community is distant and those around seem as replacements? is this fair?
hold on. let me stop here. by no means i am truly making this completely personal. i have some excellent connections...many undeserved and completely authentic. and i am truly thankful for these few.
webster's dictionary states community:
1. a unified body of individuals
2. the people with common interests living in a particular area.
3. an interacting population of various kinds of individuals in a common location.
4. a group of people with a common characteristic or interest living together within a larger society.
so i believe our personal definitions are subjective. near or far...there seems to be no clarity. how do you grow through life together so far apart? all four of these definitions were immensely diverse from one another. so is our community applying what is nearest to your physical location? isn't it healthy to have tangible, real, invevitable assurance through a physical being?
is it your loved ones... your family... your acquaintances or the people you simply tolerate? maybe. is it selfish to want to pick and choose and desire to surround yourself with those too distant companions? the reality anchors itself with the truth...you are called to love everyone...but not to like them so much. so why do we subject ourselves to this prolonging torture? are we happy in these substitutes? who are we to be so choosy?
where is true community?
i've been thinking about this whole 'community' thing too... and some of your same questions have been wandering through my mind as well... i wish i had some insight... we should all talk on wednesday, after we've had a few... :) have a good one!
Posted by
Danae |
11:55 AM