Rubbing Off

I met with a "student" of mine this morning. He asked me to teach him, but as I disciple him, I realize that I learn and change in this relationship also. He's a Puerto Rican from Hoboken in his mid-thirties. But I have him saying "dude." Like, "Dude, you never would believe what just happened to me." His friends are all, "Why you sayin' 'dude' all the time?" He says, "I got this white friend who always says it." I'm the 'white guy.' I think he's rubbing off on me, too. He thinks its funny that God used a burning bush to get Moses' attention. He says, "Any other jokah would'a tripped out, but Moses... He sees a bush burnin' and he's gotta come close and check it out... Like, 'why the he** ain't that bush burnin up?'" He's right. Moses is funny. And so is Paul. Paul is some crazy cracked-out jokah.

I think we do rub off on each other. Another friend told me what his mother said when he was young. In healthy relationships, we bring out the best in each other. She's right. But I think what's more true is that in relationship, we bring out the other in ourselves. We're bound for equilibrium as we become more and more like each the people we live with.