Relational

By Pastor Paul Gauche

A man takes part as people applaud and cheer out of their windows to show their gratitude to medical staff and essential workers on April 16, 2020 in New York City, amid the novel coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo by ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)

Today’s Word: ‘Relational’ as in… we are relationally connected to a planet-full of others with whom we, all of us, have some kind of relationship. And the extent to which we are willing to invest ourselves in those relationships is the extent to which our lives will thrive together.

I’m continually moved by the stories of people in New York City who, at 7:00 PM each evening, open a window, step out onto the front porch, and stand on a balcony and applaud, sing, shout, and otherwise encourage nurses, doctors, EMTs, first responders, firefighters, — anyone and everyone who has anything to do with keeping the city safe.

It’s pretty moving. It’s pretty inspiring. It’s pretty relational.

It’s always a gift when someone goes out of their way, makes a huge effort, takes a moment to give some love to someone else. One of the most used phrases that we’ve adopted in our common fight against the coronavirus is simply, “We’re in this together.” I’m going out on a limb here, but there’s almost a sense that before all of this started, we really had no idea how deeply we really are in our life journey together. Now we really know!

I’m thinking of the ancient story in the Gospel of Luke of the Samaritan who put aside just about every reason he might have had to not help the wounded traveler, but then went way beyond what he needed to do to be a “neighbor.”

As far as stories go, it’s pretty moving. It’s pretty inspiring. It’s pretty relational.

I’m thinking about the people who have reached out to me over the past several weeks with some kind words, some encouragement, some love. It’s made a huge impact.

Take a moment or two to consider those who have done that for you. Who’s given you the gift of friendship and love? Who has share the gift of compassion with you?

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: “We are relationally connected to a planet-full of others with whom we, all of us, have some kind of relationship. And the extent to which we are willing to invest ourselves in those relationships is the extent to which our lives will thrive together.”

#100days50words

Paul Gauche is the Pastor of Life Transitions at Prince of Peace. His posts are part of his #100days50works project, where be blogs about a different word each day. You can follow his project on Instagram (@pgauche), or on his blog, Thriving Rhythms.