Friday, May 4, 2012

so ... if you think of me

i've noticed this little phrase in people's speech of late as they share their need and they're trying to ask people to pray for them. i've noticed it in my seed group meetings and i noticed it in our sharing and learning meeting at my church community this week. i think the intent is for people to make themselves seem unimportant, like we (or I) don't spend any time thinking about the other in my daily travels.

the phrase irks me.

shouldn't the phrase be "so ... when you think of me"? i'm not the most relational and thoughtful person in this world but even i do actually think of you. if you're in my circle, in my sphere of influence, if you're important to me and i to you, then i do actually think of you. i chuckle to myself because this actually says that on some level i believe that some expectation should be placed on me. i suppose that on some level i believe that if you're important to me that you should expect that i think of you.

i do think of you. i also spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about me and my situation but that just points to the selfish motives that live inside this chest.

i'm going to make a special effort to try and say "so ... WHEN you think of me". it's ok to open up a little, to express need and to expect that you're heard and thought of as life commences.

i think of you.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I totally get that. I never want to assume that I might be important enough to request prayer or that people might think of me so I go for the "if you think of me" maybe hoping it sounds humble but really it just sounds kind of sad like I sort of expect to be erased when I walk out of the room and not thought of again. Which of course is not how community works... hopefully.