Safe Passage support for those struggling with homosexuality Isaiah 43:2. When thou passest through the waters, I will be with thee; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow thee: when thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee.

Intimacy

Teaching 15 Sonia Balcer February 1994 ©

God's Desire for Intimacy With and For Us. The central importance of intimacy in our existence, both with God and with others, is evidenced by what Christ spoke about during His most important time of sharing with His disciples-the things He said in John 14­17 during His last agonizing evening on this earth. In the previous teaching, we talked about how if we know who we are, we can love another, for we can know them truly as they are-this is essential to both healthy same-sex and healthy opposite-sex relationships.

Roadblocks to Knowing and Being Known. Many of us have trouble seeing others as they truly are (narcissm wherein we see ourselves in others to exclusion of relationally meeting them on the basis of who they actually are), or we have trouble with losing ourselves (dissociation wherein we see others but are somehow cut off from the experience of being with them because of a lack of integration on the inside). Both of these conditions impair relational presence, whether through not being able to see beyond ourselves in the experience of being with another person, or whether by losing sight of who we are in the experience of being with another person. In one roadblock, we don't have the other person "in the picture" enough to love them for their sake, and in the other, we ourselves are not enough in the picture to be relationally known with them.

Restoration in "Horizontal" and "Vertical" Relational Contexts. Our God is relational-we become persons in connection with other persons and with Himself, (revealed to us through His "incarnational" embodiment and His "transcendent" Spirit). The One who called out, "where are you?" to Adam when his relational connection was broken is the same devoted Shepherd Who looks for us when we are lost. In prayer, worship, and sharing, He searches out who we are, and where we are, and we are embraced at the point of our core longings. Only in being known in this genuine way can there be a true surrendering of our own lives unto His greater life.

To be continued and expanded through exploration of John 14-17...

[Safe Passage homepage] [Other teachings and articles]

Last Updated: Jan. 01, 1998. Created: Jan. 01, 1998.
Visits since Jan. 01, 1998 (approximately):