Rust and Relationships

Rust happens. Neglect steel and it rusts. I do not own a firearm, but in boyhood enjoyed target shooting with a .22 bolt-action rifle. There is something satisfying about a piece of precision-made, well-oiled machinery. Click, click! and everything works. Periodic use, cleaning, and oil keep things rust-free and happy. But neglect them and mechanisms squeak, groan, jam, wear, misfire, and die. Peak performance requires regular maintenance. Even the finest steels oxidize. Superficial rust from benign neglect comes off easily, but criminal neglect produces problems. We must either invest enormous effort and expense to restore functionality, or the corroded, seized-up blob is fit only be melted down and reforged. Better by far to invest in periodic care.

Relationships rust. When regularly maintained, nothing satisfies more. Click, click! and everything works. No pretenses or masks—we resonate naturally. But even the finest relationships require regular grooming to repel the rusts of misunderstanding, suspicion, and boredom. Unoiled friendships may continue to sputter on for a while, but may soon jam and misfire. Sadly, sometimes even the finest of former relationships rust beyond repair, requiring relegation to the scrap heap. Better by far regular attention and pro-active care.

The writer to the Hebrews wisely urged, “Do not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encourage one another.” Failure to meet regularly not only deprives us of our own opportunities to learn, but can encourage a patina of rust to form on relationships with our sisters and brothers. Emotional distance broadens. Squeak, groan, jam, wear, misfire, die. Instead, let us always exert ourselves to listen to, accept, encourage, and pray for one another, erasing any rust, and rubbing in the oil of the Spirit. Then, Click, click! everything works.