Lessons from Epcot...

Last week my family was blessed to spend a week in Florida with everyone's favorite mouse. If you've ever done Disney you know that by the end of the week you can feel pretty wiped out. I rode my fair share of rides but in an effort to keep things balanced I also made sure to do my fair share of walking around aimlessly, people watching and of course my favorite Disney pastime, eating. In the midst of one of my wanderings I came across this sign located at Epcot just outside one its largest attractions. I stopped and read it (yes, I'm the guy that reads all the signs at the museum, park and zoo) and was struck by the power of the words. While the words were written in an effort to speak about the importance of properly stewarding our natural resources here on Earth, they could also be applied to our relationships with one another.  Think for a moment about what a healthy God honoring relationship should look like. It's difficult to read in the photo but here's what it says:

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Symbiosis 
Between the Land and Humankind

"Symbiotic relationships mean creative partnerships. The earth is to be seen neither as an ecosystem to be preserved unchanged not as a quarry to be exploited for selfish and short range economic reasons, but as a garden to be cultivated for the development of its own potentialities of the human adventure. The goal of this relationship is not the maintenance of the status quo but the emergence of new phenomena and new values." 

Rene Dubos (1901-1982)
Bacteriologists
Pulltzer Prize Recipient
Rockefeller University

Powerful words that can and should be applied to our stewarding of this amazing planet God has blessed us with but let's look at this quote through the eyes of those looking to develop healthy relationships. When was the last time that we viewed our friendships as "Creative partnerships"? Even that term, "Creative partnership" communicates intentionality. Creating is something that is designed to accomplish a specific purpose. Do our friendships have a specific purpose? Not in a negative way like you're using someone but do your friendships push you towards your overall purpose? Are you being sharpened? Are you sharpening those you are in relationship with?

Too often we choose to surround ourselves with people that are content to leave us as we are. That sounds like a good friend right, someone who accepts you as you are? What if instead we chose to intentionally surround ourselves with people that wanted to us change, not for the sake of change or their selfish gains but for the glory of God? 

What if we intentionally searched for friendships that could be defined as a "cultivating relationship" as one who cultivates a garden? When you cultivate a garden you work it, you weed it, you fertilize it, you break it down and then work towards building it back up. Does that describe your relationships? What if our friends weren't content with our status quo? What if we weren't content with the status of our friends? What if we had relationships where each part was cultivated into the emergence of something new? Not "new" in the sense that the current you or them isn't good enough but let's be honest and admit that we have much to learn from one another and when we intentionally surround ourselves with other God pursuing people we discover that we can be developed and sharpened to a greater God honoring level. My challenge is for each of us to look for and pursue relationships that are truly symbiotic. Be encouraged and keep moving forward.