symbiote

I hope this blog entry isn't losing all credibility with the inclusion of a photo from one of the most disappointing superhero movies of all-time. Regardless, I know it is an easily recognizable image from a popular film and thought it would best represent this entry to a broad audience.

Someone older and wiser than I recently told me that people who champion their victories over victimization and wave their victory flag around are still tying themselves to the pain. This is the type of symbiotic relationship that can squelch dreams, maturity, growth, and ambitions. There are a lot of other mindsets that can attach themselves to us (bitterness, hopelessness, anger, hurt, etc.) and govern what we do on a daily basis, or how we perceive or receive other people or even perceive God.

In the past, it was easy for me to think that my choices had been made, I was cemented into being the person I was, and that the only way out was to start digging on my own accord, intellect and strength. What stopped me every time, however, was having to feed the symbiotic mindsets that got me there in the first place. I wasn't just responsible to me and able to just dig myself out, I had to stop and also give effort and energy to the things that I allowed to comprise me and my countenance.

When futile attempt after futile attempt led to constant, cyclical failure I felt hopeless, and that is when that God becomes that much bigger to me. God isn't just who He is, to me, He is also what He provides: peace, comfort, joy, and much much more. It's funny how the pits of life seem to dissolve and things just seem ... manageable. It turns how I feel about day-to-day life from from being merely a circumstantial reaction; that is, I don't let the things that I encounter or happen on a daily basis determine what is inside of me.

Attaching oneself to the graceful/loving character of God, the mannerisms of Christ, the fruits of the Spirit: it allows for one to be connected to a wellspring and a set of inner workings that are beyond our own capacity. This is where the concept of the Trinity makes the most sense to me and how it indwells within us and our lives. Connectivity to all three is what makes what we have in life, our part, our jobs, our family, our existence our place of joy, of service, of camaraderie. While I think it possibly silly to label our relationship to the Father as symbiotic, I can recognize that we are allowing a source to feed us as we feed it and become an intrinsic part of our innermost being.