Hooked on Phonics worked for me

Today's blog comes from a book I read. "Searching for God Knows What" by Donald Miller. Here is a paragraph from page 198:

"If you think about it, right and wrong aren't even people, they're ideas, philosophical equations and that sort of thing, and so it is funny that anybody would think they are right in the first place. I suppose what we really mean when we say we are right is that something out there in the soup of ideas is right, and we simply agree with whatever it is the soup is saying. But this doesn't have anything to do without rightness or wrongness; it just means we can read."

I read this book three months ago or so. This "thought" that he gives about right and wrong has come back to my mind in many situations. I've actually asked the question to some high schoolers when I saw them arguing over who was right. It was funny to watch their response when you say that affiliating yourself with an answer is something completely different than being right yourself.

In my minds rambling tangent of the moment, I now wonder how important it is what we affiliate ourselves with. Not just ideas, or beliefs of right and wrong, but also of people, and circumstances. Do you surround yourself with people who uplift and encourage? Do you do that at the cost of being able to uplift and encourage others? Do you always hope to the be the bottom of a totem pole, surrounded by people who make you better, or the top of a totem pole, so that your pride wins or you are helpful to others? How many totem poles of people do you place yourself in? How important are these affiliations to those that are around us?

In my spiritual journey, I've always hoped to have three levels of one on one affiliation/relationship. I have found it important that I am in intentional relationship with someone who has been on their spiritual walk (the Christian one) longer than I have, to help me with experiences, that I be intentional with having relationship with someone who is less mature spiritually than I am, so I can be used and encourage another, and to be intentional with someone who is right at the same level, so I can experience with them and as the Bible says, be "iron sharpening iron" so that we mutually benefit.

I don't know what I think about numerous other affiliations, but I feel I would be selling myself, and others short if I didn't have these three levels of relationship active in my life at all times.

I won't say that this is "right" for everyone (as I don't pretend to think I am right) but I do think it is the best flavor of soup for myself, and if you haven't tried it yet, I encourage you to.