Where I’ve Been

I’ve been offline.  Intentionally quiet.  Silently reflecting for several months.

It seems we are more alienated from meaningful, healthy, faithful, enjoyable (not to mention, intimate!) relationships.

I’ve been offline.  Intentionally quiet.  Silently reflecting for several months.

Thinking.  Praying.  Wondering.  Reflecting on where to go with The Crossing Ministries.  Its purpose.  Its message.

During this time, a friend sent an article which intrigues me about the growing divide between men and women.  Our social and relational climate.  Unfortunately, because I didn’t have a paid account, I couldn’t read it.  But then, something curious happened. I stumbled on two more articles that sound quite similar.

One thing seems to be jumping out quite loudly at the moment — because of the abysmal state of our world with several protracted wars, financial stresses, universal poor mental health, and acrimonious political cultures around the globe — healthy, thriving, growing relationships in every sphere of life between men and women seem to be taking a big hit.

Think about these words. Do any of them resonate when you personally think about your interactions with the opposite sex?

Guarded

Callous

Offended

Confused

Stuck

Misunderstood

Hostile

Cautious

And these are just a few of descriptors.  Do you hear how each one screams of a different emotion or attitude when we’re relating day to day with each another?

You may remember, I spent quite a bit of time in the fall unpacking the idea of offense.  Of being offended.  In large part because of what was unfolding on the world stage with war.  It seemed to be trickling down into our everyday relationships between men and women.  And it still does.

We’re agitated.

Angry.

Lonely.

Divided.

Exasperated.

Anxious.

Hopeless.

Fearful.

Being truthful, right now, we seem more alienated from meaningful, healthy, faithful, enjoyable (not to mention, intimate!) relationships with the opposite sex than anything I’ve known throughout my life experiences.

So, as I think about these things and the reason I started The Crossing Ministries, I’d like to explore our current social and relational climate between men and women with people like you and me by way of its backstory. Why The Crossing Ministries exists.  Its purpose.

So, stay tuned for more.  Especially, where we left off at Christmastime.  With hope.

Because, although our current relational and social climate is quite dreadful, we are definitely not without hope.  Definitely not!