Soul Sisters

A friend (a soul sister!!!) got me hooked on Bruxy's current series: Soul Sisters. The Meeting House is studying through the book of Ruth, and so far...it's been awesome. Kick in the Bum, and encouraging, and helpful, and...lots of things that sermons should be.

One of the things Bruxy mentioned this past Sunday was this: Other-Centredness rescues us from narcissistic egoism, arrogance and pride on one extreme, and from narcissistic depression on the other end of the spectrum. 

Funny because you can KNOW something is true, and you can believe it...but believing it in your head doesn't mean anything unless you do it with your heart and your hands and your feet and all of you. 

So through some of the choices I've made in the last few months (eg. my current summer job) I show that I don't believe this-----I have known for years that this job pushes me into a kind of self-absorption which seems necessary for survival. Outside of surviving, there's not much else that is allowed to demand my attention. If there is something, like all these crazy weekend adventures I've been having, it's awesome and a lot of fun but I end up pushing myself further and further in an attempt to catch up to 'real life'. I've got this weird mix of both extremes going on right now, and it's all I can do to keep track of who I am in the midst of those two extremes. I want neither of them to define any part of me, but as long as I deny their power, they are who I am. 

But if Other-Centredness is an antidote to all this narcissism, how do I get there when I'm completely trapped in a cycle which completely drains all the energy I have? I can't centre myself or my life on others, because there's no self or life for me to centre. 

"Love takes the initiative"

"Love your neighbour as yourself"

maybe that means "quit already"

Boldness!