Excuse me (tap, tap on the microphone)…. is this thing on? Do you ever have that sense that no one is listening, that you could just disappear and no one would notice? When you pass someone, they look right through you as though you are not even there? It is almost expected in our fast- paced, technology centered culture. We can be so wrapped up in our own little microcosm that we very rarely look up to realize that there is a whole world around us, a world full of people. There is a sense of disconnect among people. It is almost an accepted way of life in our culture. But what happens when the sense of not being connected is just as pervasive in our church? What causes us to feel disconnected in the one place where we should be the most connected?
We live in an age where we can be constantly “connected” to others, so it would reason that we should be more connected, that we should have a greater sense of connectivity. Yet, it seems that many of us still experience a sense of disconnect even in our church community. So if the ability to be connected is there but the sense of being disconnected is there, what’s missing?
In John 13:34-35 Jesus says, “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.” This is a familiar passage to many of us, it seems so simple, we need to love each other. How do we love each other? It is in relationships that love is practiced and experienced. So how are we doing? Are we loving others and experiencing love from others in our church communities? Is the love that we are showing our fellow believers serving as a beacon to the world? Is our love serving as an attraction to those in the world? Are we connected? Do our relationships with others serve as a conduits or resistors of love?
Stone by Stone
By Rachel Ramey
I have a wall you cannot see
Because it’s deep inside of me.
It blocks my heart on every side
And helps emotions there to hide.
You can’t reach in; I can’t reach out.
You wonder what it’s all about.
The wall I built that you can’t see
Results from insecurity.
Each time my tender heart was hurt
The scars within grew worse and worse.
So stone by stone I built a wall
That’s now so thick it will not fall.
Please understand that it’s not you;
Continue trying to break through.
I want so much to show myself,
And love from you will really help;
So bit by bit chip at my wall,
‘Til stone by stone it starts to fall.
I know the process will be slow;
It’s never easy to let go
Of hurts and failures long ingrained
Upon one’s heart from years of pain.
I’m so afraid to let you in;
I know I might get hurt again.
I try so hard to break the wall,
But seem to get nowhere at all.
For stone upon each stone I’ve stacked
And left between them not a crack.
The only way to make it fall
Is imperfections in the wall
I did the best I could to build
A perfect wall, but there are still
A few small flaws, which are the key
To breaking through the wall to me.
Please us each flaw to cause a crack
To knock a stone off of the stack.
For just as stone by stone was laid
With every hurt, with every pain,
So stone by stone the wall will break,
As love replaces every ache.
Please be the one who cares enough
To find the flaws, no matter what.
In our relationships are we wall builders or wall breakers? These are the questions we will explore as we look to what God has to say about relationships and loving one another.
Charis Corner 