Friend?

I think I am socially impaired in some way. I am bad at small talk, I rather talk to people about deep things. When I have to...I try to mix it up. I don't like asking the "How are you?" question...it's too boring. I rather ask something or know something going in that totally bypasses the boring information like what school they go to, where do they work, etc. But those are staples...and people expect it...and it will eventually lead to it.

I am bad at remembering things... like people's birthdays...despite them telling me something incredibly deep that they haven't ever told people before. It is not like I don't care...but the significance of such a thing as a birthday is "meh" to me. Yes, it is a special day. But, I remember other things that I see as more special. Inspirational thoughts developed or words spoken or actions performed...that sort of stuff. Trust me, it's a huge thing if I remember your birthday. I still don't have all the birthdays of my cousins down. And I have mixed up the number of my dad and mom's birthday (29 and 28 respectively).

Emotional vulnerability is probably the biggest difficulty for me. I use the word pretty loosely, allowing it to encompass our hopes, dreams, aspirations, struggles...basically anything that has meaning to us. There are people in my life that know a lot about me, but there is no one I have trusted with everything that goes on in my life. There is not anyone I would call my "best friend". It's pretty funny, seeing as I enjoy talking to girls a lot and girls are all about being vulnerable to one another... "tell me what you're thinking", etc.

See... emotional vulnerability is putting it all out there, and hoping for God's sake that the other person does not reject you. Emotional vulnerable is something that Christians should be. We're disciples known for being loving, for imitating Christ. When we come to Jesus, broken, ugly, and undesirable... he says "I accept you". Using that as our model, we should do the same. Accept each other. Trust one another. Build each other up. Let's get beyond our superficial friendships, and enter something more meaningful.