Vulnerability and submission
I was at a conference recently on Faith and Social Justice, held at Redeemer University College. The plenary speaker talked briefly about transparency.
He said that while transparency is a way to share and explain to others what you are doing and what you’re about (especially for a business), it doesn’t necessarily mean you let people know you. It can still be a front to hide behind.
Vulnerability, on the other hand, means that you open yourself up to another, showing them your ’soft’ parts that can be hurt, and where you are sensitive. It’s in this place where true connections with others, true knowing of each other, can happen. But it’s also the place where damage can be inflicted and we can harm others or be harmed.
He then noted that the key in this is submission. When we submit ourselves to others, and open ourselves up, we are making ourselves vulnerable so that we can deepen our relationships. My tendency is not towards submission. Yet as I live in community I want to be vulnerable and to have others be vulnerable with me. So I will need to practice more and more submission to those around me.