"To live in the Spirit is to live in the flow of relationship, with all that it offers you. It offers you the paschal mystery, the mystery of agony and ecstasy, light and darkness. A companion is a mirror who will show you your greatest and deepest beauty, and who will show you your greatest and deepest sin."(R. Rohr "Radical Grace" p. 188)
Interacting with other people is something an extrovert like me thrives on. There are folks who I brief encounters with, important to some extent, but we probably won't be forging into any kind of friendship. There are also acquaintances, folks who I know by name, have contact with somewhat regularly, but would not bare my soul to. Then there are folks to whom I would say I have a relationship with. By that I do not mean to imply sexual. What I mean is that these are folks who know all about me, not just what I choose to present.
There is of course my primary human relationship, my wife. She certainly knows what is truly wonderful about me. She also knows where I truly fall short, and yet still loves me anyway. I have a few very close friends to whom I confide. They are mirrors for me and hopefully I for them. And in spite of what we know of each other, our bond of friendship is incredibly strong.
There is also my relationship with the Christ, that is what it means to be a Christian. In that relationship, I also have a mirror that reveals to me what is good and what needs some work. And much like the human relationships, continues to accept me. There is an old spiritual "Oh how I love Jesus." The refrain sums it up best for me, "oh how I love Jesus, because he first loved me."
Live into that love and into all deep relationships is to see both the good and the not so good in ourselves and in others. To accept not only the praise, but also the truth spoken in love. That is what marks a relationship, truth spoken in love. Truth spoken just to criticize is not truth spoken in love, and is not living in a relationship.
I'll choose relationship over heavy handed opinions every day.
Blessings,
Ed
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