To Be Encouraged

I recently watched the series finale of The Big C.  For those not in the know, The Big C is an original series on Showtime that follows the experience of a woman who learns of her stage four cancer.  The show tackles issues of family experience, relationships, faith, life, all with wonderfully written humor and stellar performances from an all-star cast.  Let's just say as a fan, I was in tears at how wonderfully the story was written.  Understanding the journey and excitement of life is really what everyone strives for.  We long for a "utopian-like" existence in order to feel a purpose for living.  We all want reconciliation, trust, and the feeling of being valued for who we are.  Sometimes it's in those dramatic life moments where we actually feel it and want to do something about it.  I live with my elderly Nana, who is the coolest person I know.  Like The Big C, I have moments with my Nana where we are conversing, sharing, laughing and just enjoying each other's company.  She's not my Nana in those moments.  This is a woman who has experienced life.  She was born during the depression, owned the first TV on the street, and asks me now what "Twitter" is.  This is a relationship that is from heaven, my proof that God exists.  This is what life is about.  She is not my biological grandmother, but she is the only one I've ever known.  Family makes us who we are, good or bad.  You can't  change it.  but the beauty in life is the experience of relationship, regardless of limitations, that makes us who we are.  We are created to be spiritual beings, striving to know that force that drives us for connection and a glimpse of what perfect love is supposed to be.  Random interactions in  public, acts of kindness, duties out of love, they all stem from that want to coexist in the world around us.  If everything were taken away tomorrow, where would you be?  what would have to look forward to?  From who, what and where would you seek solace?  I find it interesting how many of us think and truly believe we are fine on our own.  Our families fail us.  Some of us know that from day one.  We create friendships and connections with people to fill that void.  All this bouncing from one emotion to the next is exhausting. I just want to take a deep breath  and relax.  When I get caught up in the pressures of my everyday, and the expectations I, or those around me have put on me, it creates frustration.  I spend valuable energy on pleasing everyone around me and then feel anxious at the wee hours of the morning because I'm thinking of all the things I didn't do.  That's no way to live, chasing perfection.  I just think it's simpler than that.  There is a reason why we tear up at MCPCA commercials, or why we cry at the end of Fried Green Tomatos, it's a validation that yes, we are here, we need connection, and we are better for stiving to leave this world a better place than when we found it.  

"My purpose is that they may be encouraged in heart and united in love, so that they may have the full riches of complete understanding, in order that they may know the mystery of God, namely Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge." - Col. 2:2-3