I was at a recent gathering with some dear friends… and we got down to sharing the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ that we were experiencing.

But while we used to do this habitually as a group, the exercise this time caused me to pause. Because earlier last month, as I was celebrating my birthday, I was reflecting a lot about the ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ in my life.

I found it difficult to identify some ‘highs’ as highs and some ‘lows’ as lows. And I got that there are no highs and lows for me. Simply, there are only times when I understood what was happening, what God was allowing, and how He was allowing some things to work for my good. And there were times when I did not understand, when I did not believe that God would allow some things to happen for my good.

Sai Weng Shi Ma (塞翁失马), Yan Zhi Fei Fu (焉知非福).

There is this Chinese expression that very elegantly summarizes a parable — in which through several twists of fate, a man realizes that it’s nearly impossible to conclude that what appears to be a calamity, is not actually a blessing in disguise.

It is too soon to tell…

Proverbs 4:7 — Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding.

Everything is too soon to tell.

But we can understand, if we allow ourselves to be still, and listen.

And that is why the proverb says, “in all your getting, get understanding”.

Our life seems like a quest to know, and to be known. We seek to know our limits, our full potential, ourselves. And therefore, there is an existential angst when we experience a gap between what we see that we have achieved, and what we inwardly believe that we can achieve.

We seek attention from friends, strangers, the world, because we have a desire to be known. That could explain why ‘social media’ can be so ‘addictive’. And if we are misunderstood, or when we misunderstand a loved one, we experience an angst that is hard to explain.

Is it not enough that the God of the Universe knows us, and is known to us?

Yes, but sometimes we want to validate that with others. This is us, in an earthly body, seeking validation in this dimension in which we experience life. Therefore, some of the most profound, pleasurable, cathartic moments… moments that bring us relief… are moments we experience being known and acknowledged by others. Sometimes we call it ‘being listened to’, and it happens when someone is ‘being present’ with us.

We don't just know their names, their faces, their jobs, what they do, what they're good at, but all of that and more, all of that in the context of who they are, who they truly are. There is no hiding, no need to hide, no nakedness, no shame in nakedness.

And that's why we need friends. We experience in a group, what is sometimes hard to experience alone — knowing and being known.

And that's why we build communities — to know one another, to be known by one another, and to know the God of the Universe, to make known to one another — the God of the Universe.