Are you emotionally available?

There can be no doubt that we are a broken people. We try to fix ailing schools with money, we cover loneliness with activity, and we entertain our children to make them behave. We buy ourselves things to feel better. We are working hard for things that will not last while important relationships suffer. And while we grow rich, fat, and entertained, the inner needs of the heart are rarely, if ever, addressed. Our faith becomes some sort of facade that is ultimately irrelevant in real life. And, I would dare say that if we weren't afraid of death, it wouldn't take too much for a lot of us to abandon faith altogether. When our needs go unmet, a root of bitterness is easily planted. Its risky business. When our needs go unmet (and I'm not talking about food, shelter, and clothing) we become emotionally unavailable to those around us.

Without going into detail, I've got first-hand experience with this. And there are others I know of here that grew up in an enviroment where their physical needs were met, but those around them were emotionally unavailable. They were unavailable because their needs for love, acceptance, and being valued were never met. And just like the Bible says - the "sins of the fathers" really do visit future generations. Unfortunately, this is but one of the human diseases that affect us, and the only healing balm is tasting God's love and concern for us individually, and the development of healthy relationships - which, by the way, is extremely difficult when faulty thought patterns and perspectives are learned in childhood. We may be physically wealthy, but otherwise we are are quite poor. Emotional unavailability is a big problem in our culture, and is visibly evident in our church and community.

Since the mission of Sunshine involves the healthy spiritual development of children, one of the best ways to guarantee that success is to become emotionally available to them. The success and growth of the congregation depends on our ability to become emotionally available to each other, and to those who are hurting.