GROWING TOGETHER

This section focuses upon praxis, and I suggest we take the five combinations I noted in my opening letter and see what we can do to get them working into our daily experience. In each category I will give a few hints, and then you can use your creative imagination to take it from there. May God's very unique blessing rest upon you as you continue to experience Christ as everliving Savior, Teacher, Lord, and Friend.

Combination #1 — Devoted friendships that are free from sexual overtones.

• Write out a prayer of thanksgiving for the one or two most devoted friends over your lifetime.

• Have coffee with someone in your work environment: if at home, a neighbor; if at an office, a work associate.

• Watch to see if God will point out someone in your sphere of contacts that you should get to know better; e.g. the clerk at the bank, the secretary at the office, the anonymous person at the gym, etc.

Combination #2 — Intense contemplation combined with evangelistic fervor.

• Take a walk through your neighborhood, praying for the people living in the homes you pass.

• In the morning prayerfully consider every person you will be seeing that day, inviting God to teach you their heart needs.

• Find a neighbor you have never met and invite her/him/them over for dinner.

Combination #3 — A radical critique of the Church combined with a profound love for the Church.

• Write a letter of appreciation to your spiritual leader.

• Refrain from any words of critique for one month.

• Consider three ways your church could more fully reflect Christ's love for the poor. Are any of the three you have listed things you should be doing?