Wow. It's been a long time since I stopped looking at I Samuel. Chapter 19 is amazing because it shows the incredibly complex and ever-changing relationship between David and Saul. David always tried to be faithful but Saul just kept waffling back and forth on whether he hated David or loved him.

Do you have any folks in your life who are warm one minute and cold the next? That can make relationship building horribly difficult.

How do you deal with those situations? You know you're called to love but yet your love is sometimes received well and sometimes not. Do you give up? Give them their space? Keep on loving (which may include giving them some space)?

And, in looking at the relationships between others, do you ever have the opportunity to be a Jonathan and stand in the gap between other people? That can be uncomfortable, too, can't it?

Yet, the more we all bathe all of our relationships in love which includes transparency and honesty, the more we can live in the community God intended.

Oh well ... odd thoughts on this today, I know. I just have always been fascinated by David and Saul.