Beginning Bonds
Good Son-Day!!!
Tales of Jo, The Wonder Wife
Episode 1: Big Joe Foiled Again!
Beginning Bonds
Last week, I attended our city’s volunteer appreciation function. I sat next to a guy,
who volunteered to lead the soccer program only to get a credit as a community
leader to use for his run for a state senate seat. He is not well-liked. His term as
the soccer director was unsuccessful because he could not bring people together.
He was mean, selfish, condesendiing, adversarial, and controlling. This behavior did not go unnoticed. News spread that he was a jerk. Voters gave him little love on election day.
This same guy has run for a school board and municipal positions as well with the same results. Our soccer program has 900 kids. Many of them also played in our football program. Some of the parents reached out to me to work with this person to make the program successful. I did and he declined my offers. His refusal to work with anyone led to a community coup that removed him as the leader.
In all the personality assessments I have taken one trait that always rings true is that I am an extrovert. I do not go out my way to be one, but there is some sense of energy I derive from connecting with people. The connection mostly is accomplished through something we can do and requires little to no effort. I listen to a person’s pain and needs. Often, I find people just want to be heard and acknowledged. Sometimes they do not want me to do anything other than being a sounding board.
James 1:19
Therefore, dear brethren, let everyone be swift
to hear, slow to speak, and slow to anger.
Geniuine listening (i.e., empathetically hearing the entirety of what a person is saying before formulating a response) is the first selfless step of making a connection with someone or a group of people. It is a part of a bonding process. You become one of them. This does not mean you are compromising your principles or personality. The listening piece allows you to better understand where a person is and how you can effectively help. It is a friendship cornerstone.
Proverbs 18:24
A man who has friends must himself be friendly,
But there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother.
A quick comeback to the above passage might be, I do not need friends. My response is that friendship brings needed joy to our lives.
Proverbs 27:9
Perfume and incense make the heart rejoice,
likewise the sweetness of one’s friend from sincere
counsel. Never abandon a friend—either yours or
your father’s. When disaster strikes, you won’t have
to ask your brother for assistance. It is better to go to a neighbor than
to a brother who lives far away.
Proverbs 17:17
A friend loves at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
Love is God and God is Love (1 John 4:7-8). Love is a language of the soul, it excites, encourages and makes friendships meaningful and joyful. It would be foolish not to have friends.
Next up, more on the bonds that make us and others better.
P.S. Please know for those of us in need of support or healing, rest assure there are a multitude of us who are standing in complete agreement for your miracle. So be it. Amen!
Matthew 18:20 For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.”
Song of the Week. Hallelujah! Sing a New Song to GOD. Sing HIS praise in the assembly of godly people. Psalm 149:1
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