Merely ’sitting with’ another and listening has tremendous value - otherliness creates hope, and it is hope that can help messies to look beyond what is, to what could be.

I too hope that April’s post inspires a realization of the need to “simply” be available to the messies in life - I serve in a ministry where messies come to us looking for compassion, often desperate for relationship and someone who is present to say, “I do care.” We don’t presume to have answers, but we have ears, hearts, hands, hugs and practical resources.

When we can extend compassion to messies minus an agenda of fixing, it should feel a bit easier to engage in the process of caring.

I don’t try to clean up their messes, either. I don’t think I am qualified for that so I don’t give too much advice. I usually just acknowledge that the burdens they are carrying are great, but I almost always tell them I will go to God on their behalf. They always appreciate that.

and here

So, I just accept that there is mess out there, and I try to put them in touch with the God who cleans up the mess. It’s where I go when I have made a mess of things.

I sometimes feel like a dork because I don’t know the right thing to say or do, and *usually* I find out that saying and doing *nothing* really was the right thing to do. I really liked what you had to say because, being a Christian for my whole life, it sometimes seems like we should always have all the answers. But I don’t. And it’s nice to know I don’t have to.

Thanks, everyone, for your wonderful responses. I feel an urgency in the need of people around me lately, and I hope that my post and all of your responses inspires others to be co-laborers in God’s plan for this world.

The more I listen, the more messy people that I meet. They come from all corners of my day, and they linger longer than they should sometimes, but I pay that no mind. I am always generous with my time because I believe that my time is a form of tithing and I don’t belong to a church. I am church in my life

Consciously tithing your time to others who need it (whether you belong to a “church” or not) is surly an equal form of worship as giving a portion of your income. May we all seek to be the church to this world (and the messy people in it) whether or not we belong to a building or an institution.

BTW, I hope you don’t mind, but I’d like to include your post on my blog (http://www.pneumaproject.org). Let me know if thats a problem and I’ll take it off.

I also so much appreciate your

I don’t try to clean up their messes, either. I don’t think I am qualified for that so I don’t give too much advice. I usually just acknowledge that the burdens they are carrying are great, but I almost always tell them I will go to God on their behalf. They always appreciate that.

And that is why they keep coming…as a recovering “fixer”, I realize how many people I dis-repected by acting like I could fix everything for them and that they didn’t have their own answers. I am so sorry for those I harmed with my fixing.

thanks for sharing.

Helen’s got it right. You’ve proven to those near you that you aren’t afraid to touch messiness. People need to know that before they’re even willing to reveal their messiness. Jesus touched lepers, lame, blind, tax collectors and prostitutes, and even commended a woman with a flow of blood (the ultimate Jewish mess) who touched Him in faith. The Jesus in you continues to clean up messes. It’s what He came to do.

Way to go!

“It all seems pretty random sometimes when it comes to how the trials and tribulations are distributed among us. Because of that, I have a hard time saying that the mess in our lives are always due to our own choices.”

Of course it must be admitted that a LOT of the messes in our lives ARE the result of our bad choices. But it’s also true that shit happens (one of my favorite bumper stickers) to all of us. Or as Jesus said,

For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike. (Matt. 5:45)

Which of course means God gives GOOD stuff to the just and unjust alike (not bad stuff), but I think that fertilizer is spread just as equally (or randomly, as you suggested). That sure seems to be verified by experience, (both the good stuff and the bad). As the country-western song goes, “Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.”

God’s grace is not reserved for those whose lives are “deserving” (ie, not messy), or it wouldn’t be called grace. And often I am the recipient of it through a lot of messy people…including my own messy family. Thanks for the reminder of that wonderful reality this morning.

I read a blog post the other day about what Christians say and what they mean. According to that post, when a Christian says “How are things going?” they mean “I’m getting ready to judge you”. I couldn’t help thinking “Ouch!” and also, “I’ve met Christians like that”.

April, the way co-workers share with you shows that if you said “How are things going?” it would mean “I’m ready to listen“. It would be awesome if more Christians were like you, so people wouldn’t be afraid of judgment from Christians if they share their stories.