It's 4:30am and I just got home from the Well. Under normal circumstances I would have been home over an hour and a half ago. But many a things occurred at the Well "tonight" (read: Sunday night) that lead to what kept me for so much longer than normal.
When getting into my car to come home, "You gonna be okay getting home?" (they bike and it makes me nervous that they bike home alone at 3am...)
"Yeah, but I think I'm just going to sit and think" (they'd been having a rough night)
"Well, I'm not really okay with that" (them sitting alone in the dark) "I'll just stay here with you and keep my distance."
"You don't mind?"
"Nah, they cancelled my shift for the AM so I don't really have to be to bed. Besides, I have lots of journaling to catch up on."
"Oh... well... in that case, would you mind talking with me?"
"Sure, if that's what you think you need."
"Don't just do it because you have to.."
"I'm sorry, what I meant was that I care about you enough to sit and talk with you if you need that. I don't mind it in the slightest"
We sat down and talked for the next hour-ish. I was one wild ride, let me tell you. For some reason, there outside the Well at 330am my counseling "skills" were as keen as ever and every bit of info I needed came to memory. Absolutely stunning. And it seems I shared my own experiences (like when I asked them to tell me what God was like and all they were giving was the Sunday School answers. So then I explained that when I'm having a bad day or am down I think of God as someone who loves everyone but me.) It was wild. Seriously. I certainly didn't solve any issues, but I was able to help them consider other possibilities as well as communicate in a very tangible way that I loved and cared for them in a committed way; not just with warm fuzzies.
It feels good to be used by God.
Asher
ps- I'm not some bravado either. I had "911" punched into my cell phone just in case anyone got the wrong idea, help was just a large green button away. Thankfully, I simply appeared paranoid. I'm not though. I'm just very aware that I am an easy target. :-P
pps- something I found on a friend's blog. they were interacting with a monk. here's the quote:
I asked him, ‘what do you enjoy about the life of a monk?’ He said that he is able to live by a rhythm of doing and being, a pattern of stopping and praying, of leaving work be and finding God. He said he has discovered the difference between that which is necessary and that which is essential. Many things in life are necessary. But they aren’t essential, that is, of your essence.
It is necessary for me to breathe
but it is essential for me to find God in every breath.
It is necessary for me to eat food
but it is essential for me to be a person of wholistic health.
It is necessary for me to sleep
but is essential for me to balance rest and celebration.
It is necessary for me to pay taxes and buy things
but it is essential for me to incorporate my finances within a global economy.
It is necessary for me to go to work each day
but it is essential for me to be who God made me to be.
It is necessary for me to be something
but it is essential for me to be me.
It is essential for me to know the difference between that which is necessary and that which is essential.
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