JR. Forasteros - February 23, 2014
Beside
Friendships in our culture are challenging. Many have no friendships, while many more have friendships that are toxic rather than life-giving. The example of David and Jonathan shows us what a true, life-giving friendship looks like. How can we join with others who walk Beside us to find the life God calls us to?
From Series: "The Mentorist"
We're taught by our culture that we should be self-sufficient. But God never designed us to do life alone. We don't find success in chasing one more God-moment. Rather, we should look for those who are Before, Beside and Behind us. We'll call these intentional, life-giving relationships "mentoring relationships". What do these relationships look like? How can we foster them in our daily lives? Welcome to The Mentorist!
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Today’s about Ghost stories. Though they appear in many forms, the quintessential ghost story involves the spirit of a dead person who’s stayed around (usually a haunted house) because they have unfinished business. Maybe they have to deliver a message or ensure proper burial or get revenge. Whatever the case, once their business is complete, they leave into the afterlife.
Unlike our previous two monsters, today we’re not ghosts. Rather, to quote Peter Rollins,
We are the haunted houses. — Peter Rollins
We move through life collecting hurts, wounds and scars, evidence of pain inflicted on us by other people. Some may be slight, exaggerated in our heads – maybe someone who cuts us off or says something cruel or who causes us harm by accident. Others could be huge, life-altering. A spouse who left. An abuser. And there’s a whole range of hurts between.
Whatever their source, however legitimate or not, these people, these hurts don’t just exit our lives.
We carry them around with us, in our heads and in our souls. They haunt us, returning again and again out of the ether to drag us through the past, to relive history, to reopen old wounds.
The problem is we don’t know what these ghosts want. We don’t know how to resolve their business and get them to leave us. We can’t escape their haunting – especially if the person who hurt you is still a part of your life.
