Thought for the week: Being Known

Sometimes our greatest fear is that people will come to know the ‘real us’. Can someone know the real me and still like me?

I read this description of a miracle this week:

“That someone knows all about us and still accepts us unconditionally.”*

When we show our innermost selves, we put our faith in another person. Faith they will be accepting, loving and kind. Getting honest and vulnerable opens us up to the possibility of rejection and pain. Yet at the same time, these moments of great risk are what change and deepen our relationships. Being open and honest enables us to truly connect with someone else. In return, it also gives that person permission to do the same.

Aren’t our most vulnerable relationships also our most rewarding?

Is it any different with God?

 

*The Twelve Steps and Traditions of Overeaters Anonymous, page 47

Thought for the week: Are we of the Way or of the Book?

I heard this quote a couple of weeks ago that has challenged me. It stated that we are either “people of the book, or people of the way”.*

I think it asks if I am following the rules or actually trying to have an authentic God-following life.

So I get that ‘Being of the Way’ means letting God into every area of my life. But how is that actually possible, especially when most of my time is spent at work? How do I bring God to work? Isn’t that unprofessional? If I try and be authentic during a work meeting, won’t I just get stampeded and never get ahead (especially as a commercial lawyer)?

How do I be spiritual and good at my job at the same time?

Maybe asking these questions is how we become people of the way. Maybe the questions themselves are the start.

So let’s maybe start with the question: How could I follow God in my job?

 

* Alan Hirsch, ‘The Forgotten Ways: Reactivating the Missional Church’, : Reactivating the Missional Church’. Michigan: Brazos Press, 2006, page 196.