The Connections We Make

The relationhips we forge during our time at EMU will be some of the most influential of our lives. With that in mind, we also need to consider the effects they will have, and for what reasons they will affect us so.

We all have friends here at EMU: close friends, awkward acquaintances, girlfriends and boyfriends, and the spattering of "Hello-able" friends. But we need to take a closer look at the value we place in these relationships. Of course our friends are always good for a laugh, we have common interests and perhaps even futures. They're good for a laugh and to cheer us up when the tests become too much. But I think for many of us, there's something missing. Most of us don't even realize it's gone, but in reality some of these relationships are the easy way out, a thick shell prohibiting us from going deeper and forming true, honest, and sometimes intimidating relationships.

Every relationship, be it a close friend, enemy or roommate, should be challenging you to grow as an individual mentally, spiritually and socially. The people with which we surround ourselves now will shape our outlooks and beliefs for the rest of our lives; we owe it to ourselves to form meaningful connections with these peers.

Your group of buddies who accompany you bowling every Saturday night shouldn't just contain the bare necessities of what-could-be-but-never-will-be friendships; you should be actively engaging them on a deeper level. Discussing politics, God, and the detriments of cafe food are interesting conversations, but go a few more steps and challenge the relationship itself. Be vulnerable.

What exactly does this mean? Expressing our deepest fears, exposing our most exotic dreams, and demonstrating the importance we put in that relationship. Our vulnerability will encourage their vulnerability and our trust the same. It's a scary concept. Many of the things we have to divulge are so terrifyingly true we can't admit them to ourselves. Analyzing your own psyche through conversation and action with peers is the greatest form of self-improvement and self-actualization. Where would we be without human interaction?

The potential for a faith community built on deep, meaningful relationships at EMU is great. Interactions between friends and mere acquaintances still needs to mature; we have too many frail connections between people with such similar belief systems as appear on this campus. Jeopardizing the ease of a weak relationship for the possibility of a more powerful, more significant relationship is essential to our growth as individuals and as a community.

-Jake