Did you read the comments on yesterday’s post?  The question was, “What makes you feel alive?  What makes you feel human?”  The answers are pretty cool.

A few people mentioned children.  A dad said he feels most alive when he is helping his son grow.  Someone said they feel alive when they’re in the mountains, alone but with God.  The answers reflect what Rob Bell is talking about in Sex God when he says:

“For many, sexuality is simply what happens between two people involving physical pleasure.  But that’s only a small percentage of what sexuality is.  Our sexuality is all of the ways we strive to reconnect with our world, with each other, and with God.” 

We feel most human, most alive, when we’re connected.

The problem is, there aren’t many ways of really connecting with our world, with each other, and with God, that don’t require some courage.  Sure, you can arrange a one-night stand and experience some physical ‘connection’, but I’m not sure either party walks away from those encounters feeling like something happened on the level of the soul.   

We’ve been duped into believing that our bodies are sufficient for providing the kind of connection that we ache for, but it just isn’t true.  To find it, we have to integrate heart, soul, mind and strength.  We have to be courageous. 

Do you have a friend or two with whom you can be utterly honest?  Is there someone in your life you’re able to reveal yourself to?  Granted, it may not be easy.  Sometimes I sulk, thinking I need a friend like that, and God gently (sometimes not so gently) reminds me that I already have those friends.  I just need to suck it up, be an adult, and stop living like a coward. 

That kind of friendship doesn’t happen when you sit around wishing someone would pour into you and make that possible.  It happens when you offer that kind of friendship to someone else.  At GCC we think everyone should have a friend and be a friend.  But here’s the secret: spend more energy trying to be a friend than trying to have a friend.  It goes better that way. 

Try this today:  renew your effort to be a good friend to a couple of the people in your life.  Serve them.  Listen to them.  Respect them.  Get courageous with them. 

And get courageous in your encounter with God.  Tell Him the things you know He knows, but that you rarely give voice to.  And if you’re really daring, tell Him you willing to listen to Him, too. 

Earlier, we suggested that desires clamor for the top position until we put something else there.  Today we understand something similar is true, too: we’ll reach for some means of connection no matter what.  It’s up to us to choose healthy ways of connecting so we don’t have much room in our lives for other ways.

God, help us uncover our own hearts that are sometimes buried deep.  Teach us what real and deep friendship is.  Teach us how to know you deeply, too. 

In Jesus’ name,

Amen