This month we “come together”
I have been doing a considerable amount of time reflecting on that phrase and I feel as befuddled as when I begun. To think that any of us connect with anyone else at any point of time is nothing short of miraculous. For a certain half of people – those who dress a pessimistic heart under layers of suspicion – we find the process mystifying at best, and impossible at worse. For the introvert and reflective, the act of coming together brings a heightened realization of ones own insufficiencies and anxieties. For us, coming together looks differently.
Coming together is war.
Originally when I started this essay, I focused on friendship (another sustained miracle). Through multiple drafts, I realized my own frustrations and baggage kept peering in as unwelcome guests. I passively inserted thinly veiled shots at people who I have felt let me down. There is something extraordinarily human about this. Both the offended and the offender are practicing a dance passed on from ages past. In either case, them or I, we are all missing the ideal and living in the painfully practical. It is easier to hold on then to let go. Perhaps this is what it means to “come together” – to unapologetically bring your best and your mess into the parameters of relationship. Maybe you communicate, over communicate, and point flood lights at the dark corners you would rather not bring up during an awkward dinner. Maybe this is the “come together” of grace; to validate offense, no matter how absurd. There is no road map. There is no “right way”.
Coming together is peace.
This month, come together. Coffee helps.
Matt simon blog 