I often find myself in conversations at work referring to someone “being human” in a specific conversation or situation. So much of our professional lives can be made up of “transactional” behavior that centers on tasks or outcomes – to the point where we can actually distinguish the difference between the “transactional” and “human-focused” interactions. While that may be indicative of some larger social and systemic problems to work out, I do love those conversations in which we can just be authentically human together…
Taking a moment to acknowledge the awkwardness or irony of a situation.
Disarming a power dynamic by finding commonalities.
Admitting apprehension about an upcoming task.
Disclosing details about one’s homelife and how it impacted them getting out the door that morning.
Practicing “humanness” together is about connection, transparency, acknowledgement and validation. As Brene Brown highlights in her book The Gifts of Imperfection: Let Go of Who You Think You’re Supposed to Be and Embrace Who You Are, “we are wired for connection. It’s in our biology. From the time we are born, we need connection to thrive emotionally, physically, spiritually, and intellectually.” And why are we wired that way? Partly because we are created in the image of a God whose image and being is expressed through relationship.
Reading and discussing the Abba Journey book series has shown me a new layer of beauty in the image of God and what that means for us as God’s creation. God cherishes connection and relationship so deeply, that She invites us to understand Her through the vehicle of the Trinity. God is made up of multiple persons that are in constant communion with each other, as a steady example of ongoing relationship. Not only that, but God offers a deeper invitation to connection by creating humans to require it for our very well-being!
While it’s a bit abstract to wrap our minds around, I find it endlessly beautiful to consider God’s value of interpersonal connections, and that one of the very best parts of our nature as humans is mirrored in that. Our drive and need to identify with one another, to share deep felt experiences, to know and be known, is one of the most human things about us and it’s also one of the most divine.
While relating to others is often complicated, and easily becomes transactional, the genuine connection that can be found is our true lifeblood. It’s so worth the effort, intentionality and perseverance required of us to invest in our fellow humans. May we study and work to practice the example set by our triune God, perpetually seeking new depths of connection and relationship with one another.
John 17:20-23 NIV
“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one— I in them and you in me—so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.”
About the Author
Britni is a quiet but fearless spirit who is earnestly seeking the beauty of the redemption that Jesus has personally determined for her life. Committed to the truth that listening breeds understanding and understanding results in compassion, she clings to the power of life’s stories. She has embarked on the venture of discovering her own story and lending an ear to the stories lived out in others and savors the trace of Jesus that is woven throughout them all. Currently, that journey has landed her in a balancing act between the role of wife, momma, and a mental health Care Coordinator.