What to say.... What to say.....

Ever since Kurt said the thing about "Christian Clliches don't help anyone; they often cause more harm than help" during the Job series at the UR, I've been noticing more and more how often I do use them. Things like "God loves you and you can trust in Him" are true and relevant, but can often come across like unfeeling cliche's.

This got me thinking of the often awkward ways we humans relate to each other. Think about it: friendship is a wonderful thing that none of us could live without. But there comes a time when one person needs to lean on the other because something in their lives isn't as they wish it would be. Good friendships foster trusting enviornments which make this outpouring possible. However, good friendships can still leave the dumpee feeling inadequate to answer. It is in those times when we choose to direct our friends toward God, which is a great thing to do, but any advise we give starts to sound cliche. (But how could it not be if its the truth. If its the truth, then it will have been said many times, therefore making it cliche.) Or, we mix up the cliche with our own personal experiences in that area, or of someone's else's in that area if we have none of our own. If that doesn't work, we often fall back on the ever-reliable "just be there for them and listen", which is always 1/2 to be there for people and 1/2 just because we feel to inadequate to think of anything helpful to say.

I've come to the conclusion that we all suck and can't possible do anything for each other, except to trust in God to work in each other's lives and our friendships. We are only helpful because God has made us enough for each other, and even then we just need to rely on God in those moments when we don't know what to do. We just need to trust that God enough for us both.