Family
Love is essential to health. Every individual on this planet has a need to give and to receive love. It is heartbreaking that many have either isolated themselves or have become isolated from any kind of family bond through which they can give and receive love.
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Love is a special passion that is as complex as the faith journey in each individual’s life. At the most basic level, it is a moment of time and respect that one person may give of themselves to another person, to look them in the eye and acknowledge them as someone worthwhile, that their existence matters, that their uniqueness is cause for celebration, encouragement, or attention.
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It takes effort to give or receive love or attention. The balance of introversion and extroversion is related to the amount of effort it takes to exchange communication with others, and the amount that such communication enlivens and encourages those taking part. Regardless of this balance, or where on this spectrum one may find themselves to be, each person needs some kind of inner circle of loved ones that he or she can count on for that most basic level of communication and sharing.
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Family can mean a million different things to a million different people, whether it is biological family, adopted family, friendship, professional, solidarity, church, brotherhood, sisterhood, marriage, or any other bond that is strong and constant. Whatever family may look like for each of us, the common thread, the necessity of family, is the regular exchange of time and attention to uphold a basic level of acknowledgement that our existence matters on a personal level. Our family is that inner circle of people, with whom we are mutually enlivened and encouraged, with whom we share a loyalty and commitment to ongoing exchanges of communication through the journey of life.
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Family may have different levels of intimacy and support. Every family entity has blessings and challenges and limitations inherent in it. For example, a marriage bond between husband and wife is likely to have a much greater degree of intimacy and support for those individuals, compared to the degree of intimacy and support in a church family. At the same time, the family bond of marriage is also likely to have many complex challenges to overcome to maintain continual loyalty and commitment, whereas a church family bond may be more simple to maintain an ongoing connection. The boundaries, limitations, responsibilities, and expectations inherent in various family structures determine the depth of the connection. The deeper the connection, and the greater the effort and investment put into the connection, the greater the fulfillment it provides.
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Regardless of the depth of family connection, every individual needs some kind of human contact for their well-being, some amount of time exchanging respect and perspective. To the extent that an individual is willing to give respect for another person’s uniqueness and perspective, they are likely to receive such acknowledgement in return. It is incredibly important to one’s health to cultivate and maintain a trusted inner circle committed to sharing and exchanging love and respect.
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