EDITOR'S NOTE: In October 2021 I began a new venture writing a newspaper column titled "Finding Faith" for the Forum Communications Co. network of newspapers and websites. I was asked to contribute to the company's ongoing conversation about faith, lending a Lutheran and fairly ecumenical approach to the discussion. The column was published in several of the company's papers and websites, including The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead. This column originally appeared as a "Finding Faith" column on Aug. 23, 2024.
By The Rev. Devlyn Brooks
“I appreciate you,” a colleague here at the shelter said to me this week after we had concluded a conversation. The words warmed my heart.
It struck me as a thoughtful, kind and unique way to say, “Thank you for listening; thank you for being here; thank you for being you.”
A day later, one of the guests staying at our shelter used the same words after a discussion with me about something that concerned him. When I explained why something had been done, he said, “I appreciate you, Pastor D,” as we parted. I couldn’t help but to smile from ear to ear.
I’ve also seen this same phrase in several written communications here at Churches United in my first couple of weeks here. I’ve read or heard this phrase so regularly that I began to wonder if this was an intentional campaign to spread the use of the phrase: “I appreciate you.”
So I asked. … Turns out this is actually a completely organic development.
Staff here know that they may have one of a few human interactions with a guest in a day, so they are intentional about asking someone about their day, and saying “we appreciate you, we value you.”
That’s the gospel at work, friends: Telling the people we interact with that they are appreciated.
Scroll through Jesus’ interactions with others and that’s the exact message he was intentional about: “I appreciate you.”
Take for instance Jesus calling his disciples “friends” rather than servants. Now that’s appreciation, not servitude. He told the tax collector Zacchaeus he appreciated him by going to his home. To the woman at the well, and the man with the withered hand, the woman who touched his garment and even the thief dying on the cross. To all, in one way or another, Jesus told them, “I appreciate you.”
I wonder how much kinder our world could be if we each concluded our conversations with, “I appreciate you.” I wonder how many wounds we could help heal if we told more people, “I appreciate you.” I wonder how much more of the kingdom of heaven we’d help reveal here on earth if we told complete strangers, “I appreciate you.”
I think there are a great many faithful people who worry that they cannot make a big enough positive impact on the world because they don't have the financial means, or the physical abilities or a gifted tongue. When in reality, they maybe could do more to live in Jesus’ footsteps simply by telling everyone they encounter, “I appreciate you.”
We all should be so blessed to hear such words every day.
Friends, if you haven’t heard it yet today, “I appreciate you.” … Amen.
Devlyn Brooks is the interim CEO of Churches United in Moorhead, Minn., and an ordained pastor in the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America serving Faith Lutheran Church in Wolverton, Minn. He blogs about faith at findingfaithin.com, and can be reached at devlynbrooks@gmail.com.
Yorumlar