It’s Amazing
It’s amazing what a difference some time with friends and just a little sleep can make. I am realizing for the millionth time that I need people. I can’t do this alone. I know this to be true, but I forget it again and again. So let me confess my forgetfulness.
I feel like the people in my life are holding puzzle pieces. I try to look at the picture I’m making with my life and get so frustrated and tired and bitter because I can’t see what’s going on. But they have puzzle pieces in their hands, holding them out for me to receive them. I need them (the pieces and the people) to see the full picture.
This is hard to admit. It’s like traveling. It’s so much easier, and sometimes better, to travel by yourself. In the Spring of 2012 I took a three week trip from Texas through North Carolina up to Indiana and back to Texas. It was wonderful, but somewhat lonely along the road. Now, when you travel with others, you have to think about their feelings and their desires and their ideas. Who has ever been on a family vacation where nobody ever got fed up, stormed off, or at least pretty peeved from being around each other 24/7. It’s a part of humanity. We need each other, but sometimes we can’t stand each other. But… we still need each other. Sometimes it’s more work to travel with others, but usually the trip is ten times better because you have traveling companions that make the journey meaningful.
Listen.
I need to start listening to people. Too often when a friend tells me to do something or teacher instructs me to try something out, my brain’s automatic reaction is, “Yeah, we’ll see about that.” But maybe as a challenge this next month, I will actually try to follow what people tell me. If a friend says “Get more sleep,” I’ll get more sleep. If a leader tells me “Don’t worry,” I will try to not worry.
Too often I feel like I know better and I have a better view of what is really going on in my life. Truth is, I have tunnel vision. Everything beyond what is right in front of me is terribly out of focus. I have to accept that I cannot see things as they truly are. I’m staring into a mirror, blurred. I need others to see things better. I need others to travel on this adventure called life. I need people to help me steer my TARDIS ship.*
Traveling Companions
(Yes, I’m about let my Geek Flag fly high!) You see in the TV Show, Doctor Who there’s a beautiful scene at the end of the fourth series where the Doctor has gathered his many friends and companions into his spaceship (the TARDIS, which looks like a blue British police box… if you’re still confused, ask me later.) Together, they are attempting to save Planet Earth. And so, together, they use the TARDIS to fly Earth to safety. Watch the clip below to see a great representation of why we need each other. (And if you’re too impatient to watch the whole thing, start at 0:35. And if you don’t start tearing up at the beautiful celebration and music, you have no soul. But I forgive you.)
Thank you friends.
I will accept what you tell me. I will receive what is in your hands. I believe that God has called us to be a holy race, a special people, a community of queens and kings. Just as we see in the story of Narnia.
Romans 5:17 says, “For if, by the trespass of the one man, death reigned through that one man, how much more will those who receive God’s abundant provision of grace and of the gift of righteousness reign in life through the one man, Jesus Christ!” But on my own, I do not have the reignments of a king. I need you to hand me my scepter, my crown, my robe, and everything else. Right now I am a dirty, beat up potentate. With your help I can truly reign with God in this world. Paul had to tell his recipients to clothe themselves with humility, with kindness, with Jesus Christ. And he was talking to all of them, or as we say in Texas– “Y’ALL.” We need each other’s help to clothe ourselves aright and reign as kings and queens. I do NOT reign alone. Reign with me. Reign with God. I am holding your scepter. Your crown. Your robe. Let me give them to you, so you can truly reign as a king or queen in the Kingdom of God, under the rule of…
Our True King, Our Closest Companion
And let us throw down our crowns and listen to what God our King tells us. Let us see things as they truly are, not as our brains and our bodies distract us us and lie to us. He sees the big picture. He holds out puzzle pieces. He knows what He’s doing. Let us listen and obey, together. We can travel alone. Or we can travel together. Sometimes it takes more work. Sometimes it involves a lot more hassle. But is it better? I think so. Now let my life display such belief.
Grace to you, friends.
P.S. – If a typical blog post is like a meal, it’s always nice to have a desert, so here’s a beautiful video that was produced by an awesome guy, my old roommate from college. I almost titled this post “We Need Each Other,” because this song really says it all. So basically I should have just posted the video. Hope I didn’t waste your time. 🙂 Enjoy.
*(I started writing this post through speech-to-text on my phone, lying on my bed. When I reached the part about needing people to help me steer my TARDIS ship, my phone registered it as the following: “I need people to help me steal my tortoise… poop.”)