The Importance of Relationships

Having Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) means I am completely dependent on others to help me with my physical needs. From brushing my teeth, showering, and getting dressed I need someone to do it for me. My friends and family have all devoted themselves to helping me. It can be hard to have to rely on others for everything—especially if you’re fiercely independent—and you can sometimes feel like a burden to those who have chosen to serve you but relying on others has taught me the importance of relationships. Because I need others to survive, I have built incredible relationships. My parents are my best friends, and I can tell them everything and know I will always be loved by them. The love I receive from relationships is far more satisfying then wealth, health, and fame, for if all those things were to fade, the love would remain. On our death beds, we won’t be surrounded by the material things we have accumulated or the fans our fame has garnered, we will be surrounded by the people we have chosen to build loving and intimate relationships with. Relationships are one of the bedrock foundations of being a genuine human being. We are communal creatures who have an innate need to be in a relationship with one another. If we shy away from relationships, we are denying one of the deepest parts of our nature as human beings. This is because we are made in the image of the triune God.

            Because we are made in the image of God, we reflect certain aspects of his nature. One of the core aspects of God’s nature is that he is a divine trinity. He is three persons, Father, Son, and Spirit, in one divine and eternal essence. Each person fully inhabits the one divine essence making them one God but each person also has their own individual and unique attributes as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Ultimately, this is a divine mystery not fully comprehensible by the human mind, but, what it boils down to, is that God is one divine loving relationship. He is a relationship of love where the Father pours out his love on the Son and Spirit, the Son pours out his love on the Father and Spirit, and the Spirit pours out his love on the Father and Son. This divine dance of love is at the center of reality and expands throughout all of creation. Because God is a relationship and we are made in his image, we are created to be in relationship. We are created to be in trinitarian relationship between ourselves, God, and creation (other humans). If we do not seek out and maintain relationships with God and others, a void will begin to grow in our souls. This void will continue to grow until it consumes you whole and leaves you feeling lost. So, do not choose to pursue worldly wealth or fame or success, choose to pursue the creation of intimate and loving relationships.