This statement challenged me when I heard my friend and pastor Alan Sherouse share it:
We want the benefits community offers without the demands it makes.
That coincides with something I heard my wife say a long time ago:
The price of intimacy is vulnerability.
Nearly everything - every product, every service, every company - promises us ease today. The notion of making life easier is a valuable marketing opportunity, it seems. When was the last time someone tried to sell you something that was guaranteed to make your life harder?
But that's exactly what family does. And entrepreneurship. And work with meaning. And travel. And friendship. And legacy.
These things are difficult to maintain. But through their difficult maintenance we achieve the maximum benefit. There is no shortcut to lasting love, deep relationships, or meaningful community. The only way to earn all those have to offer is to slog through the mire when it comes up and trudge through the low points.
And if you're not willing to do that - to deal with the demands - then you'll never be worthy of all the promise it holds.