Sun, Jun. 1
... But if I know you
Laura pointed something out to me this evening: This morning was the first time in probably two years that all of the original members of Seven Days have all been at church on the same Sunday morning.
Wow. That's a loaded statement. I haven't thought about the seven of us as a group in nearly as long as it's been since we were a group. I didn't even realize it this morning--Laura had to point out to me that we were all there. Laura, Erin, Kat, Tim, Matt, Noah, and me. All in one building. Heh. Could be a volatile combination. And to think that we regularly met in the same room--a small one, at that--and all managed to come out alive.
Heh. I'm actually not bitter about it at all, regardless of how that last paragraph sounded (although I am getting bitter about the fact that I've now lost this entry 3 times). During those months, I experienced community like I've never had in a small group before. There was just something about the seven of us, meeting every Sunday night in the church basement, after church, that was remarkable.
Maybe it was because there was such a vision. Maybe it was because we just had to prove that it could work. Maybe there was so much sordid history between us (except Noah) that we felt like there was something to prove by sticking together. Maybe no one wanted to disappoint anyone else. Maybe we had to prove to ourselves, one last time, that high school wasn't completely dead. Maybe we had to prove that high school hadn't killed us. Maybe we just needed each other so badly during those few months that we couldn't do anything but draw strength from each other.
Whatever it was, it changed each of our lives, and I don't think that any of us realized how much it would. Sometimes I don't think I realize it even now. It's amazing how complex those relationships were, and even so, how God worked because of (in spite of?) those connections to each other. Yeah, there were a lot of soap operas there, but we touched each other's lives anyways.
One year ago today: There are two types of forgiveness. Restoration and Salvage. I mean, in forgiveness, it's always about letting go and not expecting anything in return, right? The best definition I heard is that forgiveness isn't denying that the hurt happened, or saying that it's okay, because it's not, and there are consequences for it. No; forgiveness is acknowledging all of that, and still saying that it's "relinquishing my right to hurt you back."
infinite || abyss
posted at 11:33 p.m.
