Wednesday, March 18, 2009

Catalyst - Part 2

I'm a little behind but here is my second Catalyst posting.

Recap: Catalyst is a change that takes place when two or more elements are brought together.

The second Catalyst that each of has in our lives is the Catalyst of Connection. It is our human nature to connect with people as well as God's desire for us (Gen. 2:18).

The benefits of connecting with other people is endless. Connections result in community that provides encouragement, support, love and relationships. Most of, connecting and community results in friendships that can last a lifetime and have a significant impact in one's life.

So how do we connect with people? There are four primary areas where we connect: public space, social space, personal space and intimate space. Each 'space' has characteristics but for me, I connect the best either in the personal or intimate space. I focus on being intentional with a friend, being a great listener and providing unbiased advice based upon the situation and advice being seeked. Many people are less comfortable in these situations however this is where my personality thrives. There is something about being intentional in relationships that seem to provide greater value and understanding for each other.

To establish this relationship, you must first connect with other people, create a community and then develop your relationship from there.

Things I'm pondering...
... Can you have too many catalyst's working in one's life?
... Can you reach a point where you have too much community that results in detraction from relationships?
... Friendships are amazing and are a great support.

1 comment:

Eric Wentz said...

Regarding your 2nd thing to ponder: Yes, you can 'have too much community that [it] results in detraction from relationships.' When we say this, it normally means one of the 4 spaces is out of balance.

I think it's awesome that God's wired you to enjoy personal space relationships so much. According to Rob's message though, we have to have relationships at all 4 levels and each level should have fewer members that the one before. When we leave that paradigm, we run into issues like having too many friends that you’re trying to keep up with and guilting ourselves because we aren’t a good enough friend.

By the way, I always look forward to your blog posts.
-eric