Caution: Do Not Attempt Alone

Two are better than one,
because they have a good return for their labor:
If either of them falls down,
one can help the other up.
But pity anyone who falls
and has no one to help them up.
Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.
But how can one keep warm alone?
Though one may be overpowered,
two can defend themselves.
A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.

- Ecclesiastes 4:9-12

In Sunday’s sermon, Cody Miller pointed out two key ways other people are gifts to us (and we can be gifts in return) as we try to practice listening to our lives.

In the first half of the circle, reflecting, we can often get stuck in limited, unhelpful interpretations of our circumstances. Friends, mentors, sometimes complete strangers, can offer new questions and perspectives that help us get un-stuck - help us find our way to a more life-giving lens.

Then in the second half, responding, comes the hard work of living into our “aha” - having that awkward conversation, starting that new micro-habit, saying that sorry. How helpful would it be to have a partner in that work, someone to encourage and challenge you to make a plan and carry it through? To ask you how it went, cheer you on and help you process anything you learned from it (another time ‘round the kairos circle)?

You’re invited to read the poem excerpt below and then ask yourself some questions in Jesus’ loving presence.

You and I are “other” to each other,
but desperate enough to invade
these spaces–

desperate enough to fill up the
missing places,

patch up the broken links,

re-engage where we’ve
abandoned…

Shalom– She binds together the
blistered souls,

and we quiet ourselves,

eyes locked,

all “otherness” dissipated
in a stream of
perfect light.

- Kaitlin Curtice, author of our summer Big Read, Native - full poem found HERE

Who are these listening partners in your life these days?

Is there a potential kairos situation you need to call them in for?

Are there people you can support this way, too, listening for God at work in their lives?