Dear Inner Circle,
Some conversations leave you floored. The wisdom gained from listening to a situation from a different perspective is a gift for those who can hear it. A friend was telling me that over his years on the street he’s had a front row seat to a person’s character. In the CBD he can name just about every celebrity or powerful CEO and whether or not they’re “the real deal.” It isn’t the public acts that speak to this — it’s the smaller ones that no one notices: the tiny kindnesses, the checking in, the following up on conversations he’s had on the street corner.
Where you stand determines what you see. Any viewpoint is just that, isn’t it? A view from a point. Truth comes to us from the gutter rather than the boardroom. It’s available for those willing to tarry — an old word and concept we would do well to recover.
That same friend excitedly told me he was heading overseas to see his father for the first time in twenty years. “I thought I would only go home in a casket,” he said. “But I’m very much alive, which is a miracle, every one of my mates from 2020 is dead now. The only reason I’m still here is that you guys dragged me away from them just long enough for me to wake up.”
It’s lovely to hear people telling their stories. They often change over time, but that’s the beauty hidden within them — we are meaning-seeking creatures, always evolving. We shared a few laughs, as he’s one of the funniest blokes you’ll ever have the privilege of meeting. One night someone yelled something nasty at him. “I resembled most of those remarks,” he quipped back, “but the one about being homeless was where I drew the line. I’m not homeless — I’m an extreme backpacker, mate!”
Happiness, I reckon, isn’t found in doing something for others so much as being someone for others. Dragging someone away just long enough for them to wake up. That’s where I think we could bring back tarrying around, sitting with people, letting them take their time, to just be with them. There’s a personal act of mutual relational trust in that. The doing still matters, but the being is better.
Thank you for being part of the Inner Circle
Jon
Rev. Jon Owen
CEO & Pastor
Wayside Chapel
PS: I’ll be gone for two weeks. We are off to see all my family at once, and then back for the run into the year’s end – can you believe it? This year only started last week. I have been working a little more than 9 to 5 lately and am heading off to a place with islands in the stream. Just remember while I’m gone, I will always love you… rest easy, Dolly P.