:: Ryan Thomas ::

By way of introduction I begin with confession. Dialogue has never been my strong suit.

As I read the Gospels and see how much time Jesus spent dialoguing with others, I get exhausted. In turn, my favorite parts of the story are the moments he got away for solitude – or when he was asleep.

Yet over the past few years my friend, Dennis, has encouraged me along a path that explores what it means to be a member of the community of saints. While every member need not be “those visible members”, none of them can fully isolate and withdraw. There are no pointless or useless members of this particular Body. A year ago I had to give up a large organ from my body due to disease. I’m expected to live a standard length life, but I cannot flourish in the same way as if I had that organ still – healthy and contributing what it was meant to do. So it goes with the Body of Christ. Without every healthy part she languishes.

Each of us bears gifts bestowed by the very Spirit of God. Many of those gifts are manifested through acts of service. Many do not need words. Even still, every believer, through his or her union with Christ, has something to offer the community from their soul. And if I do not know how to bear my soul to another, or worse, if I am unwilling to do so, then I short change a brother or sister in Christ.

And while I am eager to engage in this communal dialogue, I find it difficult to practice. It is not a habit that I have formed. But I hope it can become that. I love pouring words into my own thoughts. I love sharing those words with others. But I have not prioritized sharing words in a way that invites others into a dialogue. Dennis has therefore invited me into this practice – sloppy and awkward as I may be. And above all it is Christ who first invites us into the eternal dialogue that he has held with his own Father and Spirit.

So I offer this first post with hope – hope that the Spirit will shape and form me, through the gift of communing conversation with others, into someone who is always available, authentic, and ready to be poured out as an offering before the Lord.