Between Week 2

 

One last time, here are the four spaces:

 

1. The space inside you ~ this is the space in your head, heart, body, and soul.

2. The space inside another person ~ this is the space in the head, heart, body, and soul of the person to whom you are interacting.

3. The space between you and another person ~ this is the “third space” ~ the energy generated in the meeting.  Think of a Venn diagram ~ where you are one circle and the other person is a separate circle ~ but when you come together, your circles at least touch or intersect.  This is creates a new energy that is more than just the sum of the parts of you and the other.

4. The space between others in a group ~ this is when the Venn diagrams of a group all intersect ~ sometimes beautifully (think of our choir singing) or chaotically (think of that meeting where anxiety and anger hovered/hummed in the air ~ and got into your lungs!)

 

How you show up in groups can affect and infect the whole room.  Pastor Steve Cuss talks about how anxiety and anger can be the loudest voices in the room.  These voices can be contagious and shape how you show up in that space.  I know I can shrink in the face of bullies sometimes.  When others are shouting and spit flying from their lips, I am not my healthiest, God created self.  Other times, my anger gets the better of me and I bully the bully right back.  I will tell you, sarcastically, when I become the bully that always goes oh so well.  Do you shrink or get bigger in groups?  Do you fade into a wallflower or need the spotlight on you?  The answer for most is both.  The deeper question is, where/when do I get bigger, and when do I shrink?  And secondly, why do I do that in those particular settings?  Why do I get angry at that meeting but joke my way through the other?  Why do I let one person throw me off in this situation, but in another gathering, that person doesn’t have the same effect?  Humans are fascinating (and frustrating), but a source of endless exploration in the laboratory of life.  Today, when you are in a group of featherless bipeds hanging out, notice the energy between people and in the room.  Is the vibe healthy and holy or broken and afraid?  Notice this, hold this, be curious, and pray for God (who is already there in every room and every gathering every everywhere) to guide you and help you up as the beautiful beloved person God crafts you to be.  Amen.