Mentor, Peer, or Bringer Alonger

Going home the other night, I was listening to the radio. The speaker was talking about the need we all have to have special people in our lives.

He spoke of the mentor, the one you look up to and from who you receive guidance. Mentor – the one who encourages you to stretch outside your comfort zone; the one who challenges you to dig deeper; the one who educates. Then there is the peer. The Peer – the one who is in the muck right beside you. The one with whom you can share struggles, secrets, and successes. The one who is experiencing life right along with you. And finally the one you bring along. The one who is not where you are in your life, but the one you bring along, mentor, and educate.

He was speaking about all this in the spiritual parts of our lives. I think is easier to find folks in those roles in our physical life. We rarely take the time to think of those roles in our spiritual lives. What a shame! So this morning coming into work, I began to think about that.

As I thought of my spiritual mentor, I offered up a prayer of thanksgiving. It is that mentor who challenges me to dig deeper in my spiritual life. It is that mentor whom I look up to and who leads me on a spiritual journey that sometimes, believe it or not, is a lot like climbing the face of a mountain with nothing to hang on to but small rocks and little crevices. My mentor is often the only safety net I feel that I have.

I thought of my sister in Christ that walks beside me. And as I did, I offered up a prayer of thanksgiving for her. It seems that struggle rarely confront both of us at the same time. So when one is struggling, the other is there to put an arm around a waist and steady the other in the struggle. She understands where I am because she is there too. We share struggles and we share victories. When one cries the other does too. We can be totally honest with each other and know that the only place that honest sharing will go is upward, and only in a prayer for understanding. What a wonderful gift from God!

And then I thought of the one I am trying to bring along. I offered up a prayer of confession; I find myself falling short of the task more than I want to admit. I prayed that God would slow down my pace; I cannot go faster than that other less the path grow cold and my friend loose the way. It’s a heavy responsibility to bring another along. But it is something we are commissioned to do! Today I committed to work on that area of my spiritual life. God has placed that person in my life for a reason; I cannot fail Him.

So where are you today? Are you a mentor, a peer, or bringer alonger? Who fills those roles in your life? How and how often do you pray for them? Will you start praying for them in earnest today? All three are awesome roles, important roles, in building the Kingdom.

Just my thoughts and reflections.

Jeanine