I was formed by a car accident. I still drive recalling the crunching of metal as it slid across the pavement and the slamming sound of two cars colliding. I hate driving. I drive tentatively. I now appreciate the real danger that abides every time you hurl yourself down the freeway in a metal box. I am formed for ever by this experience
How we have been formed can’t effect how we think about and hear other people. There are five dangerous ways of hearing. We all hear in a dysfunctional way but rebooting how we listen can open our lives up to a great deal of freedom and take us from being formed by events and people to being transformed by His Spirit.
I have a friend who’s wife is an alcoholic. There marriage has a trail of late-night disappearances in drunkenness and embarrassing holiday events due to alcohol. My friend hardly has had anything to do with alcohol in his life and was totally baffled by what he began experiencing with the person he loved more than life itself. The years have brought DWI’s and all night drinking with strangers in dangerous places but they are now filled with sobriety and joy. My friend told me he still goes into panic when his wife is late getting home or her phone doesn’t work. He said, "I realized I am as ill as my wife was from going through her diseases." He has been formed by his experience and his reaction and pain has shaped ihs responses to life in dysfunctional ways.
More to come…
