Pat and I have been running from the city. Well, I guess I can't speak for Pat but it is true for me.
I came to that realization the other night when I was talking with someone. In spite of all the movement and activity in DC I am still able to hear my heart and what the Father is revealing to me.
I have been hiding in the country and semi-rural areas. It was safe for me. I wasn't asked to do more than I could do. The people were easy to get along with. I felt like I could handle any relationship that I came across.
My fear was that if I got in an urban setting that it would be revealed that I wasn't all that sharp. That I wasn't able to run with "the big boys". That intelligent people would see me as a nave. It isn't that I haven't been around sharp people all my life or been unable to have a deep intellectual conversation with many of you reading this post. It's just that I assumed that you were "nicer" because you lived in the country and that people in the city were just mean.
It was only the encouragement of a friend that helped me risk the attempt to fit in some place where there weren't a lot of trees or cows.
What I'm finding is that people are all alike...and that God is with me wherever I go...and I am able to be just who I am in whatever setting I find myself.
This week I have continued to ride the metro, walk down streets lined with tall buildings and I've still been able to be courteous, loving people, listening to them and being me. I fit. I fit in better than I ever thought I would. It even feels comfortable.
There are nice people everywhere. They respond to nice and genuine interest in them from someone else. All I have to do is be me. It gives them the freedom to be them. The conversations are lively. We're having fun teasing each other but there are still opportunities to talk about what matters.
This week I had a brief conversation with one of my office mates about Congressman Weiner. We had just learned that he had resigned. A co-worker said, "What difference did it make that he was sexting? If we looked into every politicians life we would find things that were inappropriate." My reply was that the character of a person is reflected in his actions both privately and publicly. I believe it's time for us to expect people to take responsibility for their brokenness, get help and realize that it impacts every aspect of their lives including their ability to lead in the public sector.
So I was afraid that I couldn't speak my mind in that setting. Funny how fears keep us from doing what we need to do...what we have been called to do. The setting doesn't matter. The relationship we are speaking out of does.
The Father is in DC with me just like he was in Holmes Co with me. The geographic location, the mode of transportation and the speed at which people go about their lives doesn't change who He is and my relationship with Him.
What have you been running from? Is there a calling that you don't feel you measure up to? What fears are keeping you from being who God created you to be? I know answers to those questions will bring some renewed excitement to your lives. Count on it.
