It’s only as bad as you make it.
At the end of the day your ability to connect with your readers comes down to how you make them feel.
As the years go by those relationships are tested, and only then do you realize their true nature. Only after they’ve been tested through weddings, moves, funerals, divorces, births and other stages in life are you able to judge them. Until then, ‘best friend’, ‘good guy’, etc are only labels. In the end, it’s interesting; often surprising to see the results.
We go through life and don’t pay attention to God even when he’s yelling. Then there are the moments you never expect and can’t avoid. It is at those times when you can hear him ever so clearly; even when he’s whispering.