Dear Beloved of Trinity,
Since Kara “broke the ice” on Sunday with her reference to David Brooks, I’m going to follow suit—thank you, Kara! Someone recently shared with me a 2023 article by Brooks, The Essential Skills for Being Human, and I couldn’t help but think: Isn’t this exactly what we strive for every time we come together as the Body of Christ? In worship, formation, and service, we are continually learning and growing in these essential skills.
The Gospel calls us to be more fully human, and to be more fully human is to live more deeply into God’s desire and dream for each of us. To embrace our full humanity is to become more Christlike—to live into the gift of who God created us to be at our very core.
As we begin our Lenten journey, I wanted to share a few of Brooks’ insights that seem especially meaningful for us:
Be a grower. Always strive to grow—to become a better version of ourselves. Take an honest but grace-filled look at who you are, and then take just one small step forward.
Be open-hearted. Kindness, compassion, and a posture of openness are essential to our humanity. Be respectful, accepting, and truly present to others.
Be an illuminator, not a diminisher. Illuminators help others feel seen, valued, respected, and alive. Diminishers, on the other hand, make others feel small and insignificant. Choose to lift others up.
Be a good listener. True listening requires full presence. When we truly pay attention, we honor the humanity of the person before us.
Be an accompanist. (Not in the musical sense, but in life!) We walk this journey together. We certainly can’t fix everything, but we can be present with one another amid the realities of our lives.
Stand in their standpoint. Seek to understand the perspective of another. Ask questions, listen deeply, and receive their story with what Brooks calls “tender receptivity.”
Live with abiding love. May everything we do—how we see, support, understand, communicate, and respond—be rooted in abiding love.
May this Lenten season be a time of deepening—of growing in these essential skills for being human and becoming more fully who God created us to be.
Peace and Blessings,
Paul