Thinking Out Loud...

Someone told me today that familiarity is the breeding ground for intimacy. When I think of the word familiarity I think of the Cheers theme song - "Sometimes you want to go, where everybody knows your name, and they're always glad you came. You wanna be where you can see, our troubles are all the same, You wanna be where everybody knows your name." I believe there is an intrinsic desire in every human being to know and to be known...to fit in somewhere in which one can feel the comfort and safety of the familiar. Yet, when thinking about the word intimacy, most people have the tendency to shrink back at the very mention of the word. The best I can figure is that we want familiarity enough to feel safe, but not to the extent where others can see right through us, which is intimacy. I find it interesting that the very thing that we find comfort and safety in (familiarity) serves as the breeding ground for that which is most often seen as, in a sense, dangerous and uncomfortable (intimacy).

As I was driving home, I started wondering if this applies to my relationship with God. I hear people say that God has become too familiar to us, that we have brought Him down to our level, so much that we no longer hold a reverent, holy fear of our Creator. I understand that line of thinking, and yet I can't help but believe that the more familiar I become with God, His character and nature, and the more that I am real with Him, not just parading around what I think are my best attributes in order to gain His approval, the closer I will grow with Him in relationship.

Just thinking out loud...