Answers

I recently shared the experience of attending a Formula 1 race in Monaco with Cherry and two good friends.  The event was beyond description!  The noise, speed, danger, excitement, and precision were extraordinary.  The impact of running a race on city streets was unique.  I found myself transfixed.  The noise was numbing and awe inspiring.  The speed and danger, visible and implied, was both admirable and idiotic.  The exactness of the course, amplified by the speeds, required a level of precise dedication I have rarely seen in any forum, event, or activity.  Everything was on the edge!  We were there.  We were part of the event.
 
How does one describe this to someone that wasn’t there?  The hundreds of photos look like racing photos from any venue of open wheel racing.  They do not capture the noise.  They reflect moments in time, not a journey.  They capture a split second of life, good and bad, without giving you the perspective of time.  Everything is a fraction of the whole.  Even sharing our words and emotions did little to convey the heart of the real story.
 
Often great relationships, with God and each other, reflect the same conundrum.  We don’t know how to describe what defies description.  We can find the words to write about what cannot be captured in words.  Even putting words, photos, and sound together doesn’t help.  Big events in life are like that.  Imagine childbirth.  Consider the trauma and pain of losing someone you value and treasure.  The fact is that “the sadness you have right now is similar to that pain [birthing, death], but the coming joy is also similar [new birth child, potential life to come]. When I see you again, you'll be full of joy, and it will be a joy no one can rob from you.” (John 16.22)
 
The fact is that in our experience together that answers to what it is “like” are born.  We can experience everything; fresh, different, and relevant today.  God has an open door.  There are relationships open to us.  What will we do?