14 Sep
Be a brick! Mentoring in action
I have a theory that if we could all see ourselves as a brick then many of our pastoral and growth needs could be met – let me explain.
First though a question – how many bricks does a single brick ‘touch’ in a standard brick [this definition excludes half bricks] wall? No, it isn’t a trick question, I am not referring to the mortar between the bricks and neither am I thinking of a double skin [or any other deviant] brick wall. If necessary you can go and find a brick wall and count or even unearth some Lego and build – at this point I am assuming you ‘inter-leave’ the bricks and don’t follow the 2 year old single stack approach to Lego walls.. Whichever way you choose please return to this post when you have concluded that the answer is 6. [I am refraining from discussing a student art teacher who told me that every brick wall has purple in it - which in later life I realised is true].
Imagine the brick wall – a 7 brick cluster – and picture yourself as the centre brick. You can see that there are two bricks above you, two alongside and two beneath you. Let’s take each pair in turn.
The two bricks above you represent people in your life who are like mentors – probably older, certainly more experienced and above all trustworthy. People you respect and are happy to allow them to ’speak into your life’.
The two bricks along side you are likely to be friends already and my suggestion is that you crank up the conversations you have and begin to introduce spiritual things. You may decide to follow the same reading plan or agree to pray together each week. You may never meet as a 3-some but you will meet regularly [meet could be online if geography puts a physical distance between you]. Sometimes these are called accountability partnerships.
The final two bricks, the ones beneath you in the wall, are people who see you as their mentor – the opportunity to pass onto others some of the things you have learnt in life. This applies whatever your age or experience, the giving of yourself to someone else is a great life learning experience.
In case you were wondering, the reason I suggest two people at each level is to reduce dependency on any individual, to give a wider range of input and to be protected in case any of them moves away or has to end the relationship.
So – be a brick!
