In the last post, the Art of Storytelling, I mentioned a brother who I had come to know. We had a great discussion at a donut place during my time in Pittsburgh. I knew I wanted to be in touch with him after we left departed and often wondered what our connection would be like going forward. When I attended the engagement/send off party for he and his now wife he greeted me in a way in which I thought appropriate but partially expected; he called me Brother.
Ecc. 4:12 (MSG) #verseOfReflection
12 By yourself you’re unprotected.
With a friend you can face the worst.
Can you round up a third?
A three-stranded rope isn’t easily snapped.
As he drove me home and we continued to talk he got this idea of "developing a framework". He mentioned, faith, friends, and "I can't think of a third one". I've decided to "do him a solid" and provide the final piece of the puzzle.
Whether we know it or not we all have some sort of framework in our lives. It consists of what we believe, who we are around and interact/connect with, and those that we are tied to, sometimes joyfully in the case of blood relatives and other times not so much in the same instances.
What is faith? On the basic level it's simply your belief. Whether that be a belief in a higher deity (power), people, or yourself. As I've mentioned many times before your thinking really controls how you live your life. For those who ascribe to having some additional help from a higher power, this allows their faith to be placed in something/someone beyond themselves; not a bad option when you think about it. After all, we as humans are limited to what we can and cannot do.
Friends. Wow, I could talk about this one for days, starting with the varying levels of friendship. When I was younger the question was: Are they a friend or an associate? So. many. levels.
Typically there are those that you kind of know from around the way. There are also people you may be in more casual contact with and from there intimacy and closeness tend to increase. I have friends who I've known for a while but the level of friendship hasn't really changed. The communication tends to fluctuate and at times they might "act up" which causes me to wonder what level we're on. Then there are the ones who I would trust to get me out of a bind and help when needed. Very rarely, few far and in between, are the lucky few I know would look out for not only my well being, but my very life.
Family. Blood related. Those who become family after having your back through thick and thin. No matter how long it's been since you last talked, it's as if you never stopped talking. You'd do for them and occasionally they'd do for you (in possibly different ways). I have friends who consider me family and/or are like family to me. Although I may help or provide for them in a specific set of ways, they offer themselves and whatever it is that they have to me, not in return but because that's a part of the process. There's a give and take in all relationships no matter what level you're on. Be mindful that a balance exists.
You're only as strong as your team. A house is as secure as its foundation is stable. Look around you. Are you being challenged, poured into, built up? If not, you may want to reevaluate. Absolutely nothing wrong with adjusting, making changes, and doing what's necessary so that you can get to your final destination. The older we get the more we realize the kinds of people we need, and how we can help people and be genuinely human towards our brothers and sisters without having to have a close and intimate relationship with everyone.
You're in a life threatening situation. There's one phone call you can make. Who gets the ring?
Shouts out to my brother E. Fortune for the idea.
Sumthn2Ponder (s2p):
- How deep is my faith?
- What kinds (i.e types) of friends do I have?
- Are there people I consider to be family who aren't blood?
Links for Consideration(L4C):
