December 8, 2021 I refer to it as “Darcy’s wall of weird.” When I drop a weird quote in front of a particular friend, he writes the quote on a post-it note, dates it and adds it to a collection of similar notes. At this point, there are at least 15-20 post-it notes on the wall of his cabinet. That’s “Darcy’s wall of weird.” I think of myself as a bit weird. I use language in quirky ways. I have very unique combination of interests and hobbies (my hobbies over the years have included martial arts, playing paintball, sewing and crafting, making jams and jellies… I used to joke that I’m like Martha Stewart, but I like to kick things). I have a big, bold personality. Additionally, it’s easy to feel weird or unique in other ways. It’s easy to feel like my struggles to live out my faith are weird or unique to me. It’s easy to feel like those moments of profound closeness to God I’ve experienced are weird or unique to me. But now that I’ve been writing this column for nearly four years, I’ve received many emails, letters and comments from readers who consistently refer to my writing as “relatable.” It always boggles my mind. I think, “people can’t possibly relate to this!” Yet, they do. While we’re each uniquely and wonderfully made, we also have a lot in common. We all experience moments of profound grace, beauty and gratitude. We all experience moments of doubt, struggle and sin. We’re not alone. We struggle in the same ways. We experience God’s love in the same ways. As I’ve discovered by writing this column (and in other ways, as well), it’s in sharing our weird – sharing our experiences and our reactions to them – that we connect with one another. It’s the only way we know we’re not alone and it’s how we come to have companions in our journey. God creates us each uniquely and wonderfully, but he creates us to live and share in community, and to help one another get closer to Him. Faith is not an individual activity. During this year of synod, there’s been a lot of discussion of “journeying together.” To me, part of how we do that is by sharing ourselves and by sharing our weird. Even when it’s off the wall.
|
|||||
|
|||||||||
