Learning from each other

If we're open, we can learn a lot from each other.  This is the beauty of community, and of relationship. I believe that those are different from us hold special significance for our own personal growth.

Each time I meet someone or talk with someone I want to be open from learning from them.  I believe that this can change us and give us more of an open stance towards life.  Also, this is more inviting to them, and they may be encouraged to share themselves with us.  Also, if I'm open to other people, I will be more open to the moment, to being surprised by the grace in the day.  Also, if I'm not open to other people affecting me, I will not be open to God affecting me either.  I believe that what I'm talking about is more open stance towards life, an opening to mystery, to things that I don't yet know and don't quite know how to take in yet.  To believe that we are complete is to close us off from mystery, from the other.  Also, this isn't living by faith.

We are all a work in progress, and this may sound disappointing, but rather it invites us to dance with the Life flowing through the universe.  If I'm already perfect, I don't need to search for life outside of myself.  If on the other hand I'm aware of my shortcomings, if I know where I end, then I'm more aware of where Another begins.  Our job and goal isn't to work towards independence and self sufficiency, but rather interdependence and dependence on God.  In this way of thinking about things, your gifts are valuable and can add to my life and the life of the community.  Also, my gifts are valuable too and can be used for the common good.

We each have a choice in this life to go about reinforcing our current beliefs, our status quo, our way of seeing the world, or we can open ourselves to mystery, to other peoples' way of seeing, to ideas that stretch and expand our current beliefs.  It's tempting to look for things to reinforce the status quo, for we all want some element of control.  But we can go through our entire lives telling ourselves the same message, of entrenching ourselves deeper and deeper into our own modes.  If we're able to listen for new voices, than we must admit that our own way is just that, our own way, and is incomplete.  I believe we can go through our whole lives fighting for our piece of the pie, or for control, only to realize that life is shared, and made more full through the sharing.

To change from a mode that goes about reinforcing its own beliefs to one open to mystery is to look fully into God, not to get from him what we would like, but to have him speak into us the love that accepts all and transforms all.  We are each created in the image of God, but none of us bears the full image ourselves, we need each other, we need relationship to teach us more about God.  God himself is relationship, lived out in the Trinity.

I also believe that we can seek out areas to challenge ourselves.  Am I shy?  Then maybe I need to seek out those who are more outgoing.  Am I too bold?  Then maybe I need to seek out those who have peace in themselves and don't need to control to have peace.  Am I racist?  Then maybe I need to hang out with those of other ethnicities so I can learn from them, learn to love them, learn to see their uniqueness.  We are given each other to go on practicing the kingdom of God until the kingdom is a full reality.  We are bound to each other, we are given to each other.  To accept this, to open our arms and hearts to others, is to love God.  It is accept infinite mystery, to accept grace that leads to grace and to ever increasing levels of grace.

We will never have this perfected in our lifetimes.  But steadily looking into love, letting our hurts and hangups fall away, can help us to take a more open stance to life.  But we need love and grace for this, we can't muster up the courage to change ourselves.  We need to subject ourselves to mystery, to be open to this mystery, and to not fight back when mystery asks us to give up previous beliefs or ways of being.