Thought for The Day - The Voice on the other End

...of the Line

....the text

....the IM

....the Prayer

It's apparent our tools are useful. Our tools allow distance to be bridged with sparks and whispers of electricity. We can hear, see and as such, we remain in contact.

Goodbye can have such finality. My mom wouldn't allow us to say it when we left for the day; she told us to say "see you later." She said "goodbye" was almost a way of ensuring we would leave one another (somehow) and never see one another again. And yet, the idea isn't a bad one. The years have brought many friends into my life, mostly through Church or Work environments. And many have seemingly gone away, never to be heard from again. But others remain a phone call, text or Facebook messenger away.

Physicality and proximity...nothing like it! My daughter lives in New York, my son attends school in Missouri. And certainly we talk on the phone and through text often. We have a family chat where it's like having them sitting around the kitchen table again. But nothing is like having family, friends and close associates present and for more than a few minutes!

Thought for The Day - Connected

We go through life networking with people, socializing, worshipping together, but I'm sure not everyone "fits" in your life like a puzzle piece. Many people have friends they've known for years, but there are some aspects of their life that aren't shared with these friends. It isn't because they don't want to share it, it's just they haven't found a connection "open" to hearing this part of their life.

There are a few people I'm connected to. Actually a very small list of people. I have friends, acquaintances and of course family, but there are very few people who seem open to deep friendship. I share aspects of my identity, occasionally, but very rare. I will tell a friend or my wife about my hopes for the future or what I'm feeling, but it isn't the same. I've often said, I'm the listener; people come to me to be heard. The interesting thing is I think some people would consider us "perfect friends." But if they ever stopped to recall the things I've shared with them, they would find it hard to put their finger on only a few things.

Bonding, connecting, being "knit together" as it was said of David and Jonathan, is a relationship where not every fact is known, but it is a relationship where there is no fear of truth. Being connected to a person, conversations are "bi-directional," meaning both people have time to share thoughts and feelings. At least for my life, I find people are willing to pour out their soul, but rarely do the same people listen.

For me, it's a life-long concern and while I could allow disappointment to shut me down, for the time being, I continue to trudge along, ever hopeful for a person or people who understand the need for genuine connections.