transparency

though there have been many kinds of events and gatherings, i think the most apparent change since last week is that in my relationships with people here. it has been a little difficult interacting with the hands family; it's only natural. but i can sense that i'm getting a little bit more comfortable as time passes: my quirks, idiosyncrasies, and inner sarcasm are coming out.

the benefit of this is that i'm becoming much more transparent.
the danger in this is that i'm becoming much more transparent.

it seems that there's so much risk in being involved in any kind of deep relationship. it's a choice, it's a conscious decision to become more vulnerable. but i realize that people here deeply desire that, in hands and especially in the community. anywhere you go, people want you to know their names, they want to be touched, they want to be cared for despite having to expose themselves in the process. coming from the western culture, i'm used to interacting with small talk, with numbers, facts and figures, so it's easy to think that the problems here can be solved with money, food parcels, buildings, and programs. but it's not that simple. problems aren't merely surface-level; they're deep wounds, and people want you to know that. everything must be relational.

While he was in one of the cities, there came a man full of leprosy. And when he saw Jesus, he fell on his face and begged him, "Lord, if you will, you can make me clean." And Jesus stretched out his hand and touched him, saying, "I will; be clean." And immediately the leprosy left him.
-Luke 5:12-13

don't simply heal.

stretch out and touch.