Transformed Relationally

From Dr. Phil to Einstein and Cousin Eddy, relationships are a tough nut to crack

Relationships are messy things.  Relatives are messy things (just look at Cousin Eddy in Christmas Vacation).  The problem of course, is people, but then again, without people there’d be no relationship and people are messy, complicated, imperfect things and so round and round we go.  Where it stops nobody knows.

No one, positively no one, even if your name is Dr. Phil, has relationships completely figured out.  Oh, sure they might be good at giving us advice about how to live and get along with our fellow human, but they’re just as big a pile of goo as we are when it comes to their own relationships.  (If they tell you they’re not, be suspicious)  So where do we turn if we want to transform our relationships?  Well, how about God?

After all, we were God’s idea.  He made us (in his own image no less) and the joy, love, fulfillment and even all the gook involved in our dealings with each other were his invention for our benefit; even if it doesn’t feel like a benefit some days.  Einstein had some theories on relativity (how things acted in relation to other things) and some of his theories had to do with the speed of light and how it behaved in a vacuum.  While that’s all well and good for physics, we’re not a physics problem (well, not really) and we certainly don’t and couldn’t live in a vacuum.  God doesn’t have that in mind for us anyway.

Even though relationships are tough the good news is that our Father doesn’t expect us to make them work of our own sheer will and determination.  He’s even given us his owner’s manual, the bible, for reference.  He asks us to rely on it and him and to look to his examples of forgiveness and peacemaking.  He forgives us all of our sins just as he forgave the persecutors, accusers and mockers of his son on the way to his death.  It’s humbling to realize that we’re in that lot.  We’re in the same group as those soldiers and that angry crowd that shouted “Crucify him!” and if Jesus forgave them we ought to be able to forgive Cousin Eddy for bringing his Rottweiler to Christmas.  Making peace in a lot of circumstances just means getting out of our own way, burying our egos along with the hatchet.  Because as much as we might like to think we are, we’re not quite up to making these relationships work on our own.  If we do go it alone we’re surely more likely to suffer, and those around us, than if we look to God for guidance.

Our relational transformation begins with accepting God’s wisdom when it comes to how we treat others.  We are blessed with his love and called to be a blessing to others.  The Greek word for blessing is makarios which literally means “happy.”  Imagine what it would be like today to be someone else’s happiness, someone else’s blessing today.  Then, realize that in our relationships that’s what God says to do.  Carry that with you every day and who knows?  You might just be transformed.

I write every week on my blog about lifey stuff which has a lot to do with how we get along in this old world; on our own and with the other humanoids.  If you would like to read more, that’s great.  You can get to my blog by clicking here.  If you like what you read there, or here, I encourage you to subscribe.  It’s free and just means you’ll get an email each Saturday with links to my weekly posts.  You can subscribe at the blog or here by clicking this.  Please be assured, you won’t get a bunch of junk as I never sell or share emails.