We received a great blessing yesterday, as we welcomed Dr. Gregory Ellison, II. During these three weeks, Dr. Ellison will be preaching the series “Who Cares? The Lost Art of Seeing the Invisible.” Each week, worshippers will be provided with a set of questions to discuss around your own table with friends and family through the week. Dr. and Mrs. Ellison will likewise be meeting with Pastor and Mrs. King to do the same. May you and your family discover more about our Lord, and one another, as we engage in these Fearless Dialogues.
[empty_separator][/empty_separator]Fearless Dialogues over Food
Few moments in life are more painful than feeling that others, especially those whom we admire and care about, want nothing to do with us. There may be no better way to communicate this than for others to treat you as though you are invisible—like you didn’t exist. Maybe at first glance this doesn’t seem as intolerable as I suggest. But recall for a moment a situation in which your friends, family, co-workers or relationship partners acted as though you did not exist. Remember feeling as though you were invisible, yet you could see the others going about their lives as though nothing unusual was happening.*
What did you do?
Did you try talking to them to find out what was going on? But what if they didn’t talk back, but instead acted as though they had not heard you?
Maybe you waved your hands in front of their faces? If you did, what did it feel like when they even refused to make eye contact with you? Were you able to carry on as though everything was normal?
Did you start to withdraw? Or did you reciprocate their actions? Did you disengage, wondering if you really belonged with these people after all?
*(Direct quote from Kipling D. Williams,
Ostracism: The Power of Silence, 2001, pp. 1-2)
