There are so many things that occur in the busy everyday, that don’t seem significant, that pass by without notice or circumstance, fading into the ether of a random day’s agenda...
Among these are the dozens of hallway glances, the office hellos and goodbyes, the “how was your weekends” and the routine conversations at the coffee pot or check out line.
We go through life assuming these are merely mundane and manuscript, normal fodder for normal days...throwaway interactions and nondescript moments.
Oh...but what if they weren’t. What if they were so much more. What if every human interaction was viewed through the lens of one God-intentioned creation colliding with another God-intentioned creation, in the urgent present tense of a designed and distinct moment in the universe.
What if we woke up and we realized that every human interaction, whether at the checkout lane or church parking lot was one that held inherent value and yet to be unpacked mystery. All of us have a story behind our everyday persona, what if we cared enough to encourage one another to tell it, even just a part of it? We are all worthy of a Paul Harvey monologue on what brought us to today.
We all have dreams that have been put on a shelf or in some cases put out to the curb. We all want to explain what they were. We all have a wish for whats next, what if we could communicate that to an ear eager to hear it? We all are designed for community and long to be known and to truly know others in our world. We are all unbearably lonely, though few will openly admit it, and yet in this highly populated, constantly moving world we are rarely alone.
So why are we perpetually too busy for more than just hello? Why is small talk the biggest investment we are willing to make? Why are we willing to send a text or like a post but unwilling to make or answer an actual call? When did a visit or catching up over coffee become too much to squeeze into the calendar?
Something in our very souls have been changed by the modern world. A longing for real connection has somehow been traded for the cheap substitute of clicks and likes. Activity, busyness, scheduled chaos...all have taken priority over true communication, interaction, and conversation.
What’s in our calendar has taken a front seat to who's in front of us. We have all willingly accepted being bumped for whatever is next. We have done it willingly, if I accept you bumping off our lunch date for the meeting you have at 2:00, you will overlook the fact that I’ve been late for dinner two weeks straight or haven't returned the call...
It’s an epidemic of extinction level proportion, but we are all actively participating and eagerly accepting it with false grace and implied understanding every day. It builds up in us and it erodes our humanness one interaction at a time.
We may not consciously know we want it to end, but our souls are screaming for it to stop. Our very human essence is on the checkout conveyor kicking the phone out of our hands and looking us in the screen-glazed eyes and telling us we need to connect with that God-created being across the counter from us. Will we listen this time or will we accept that we have things to do, places to be and schedules to keep...and move on to the next check box?
Maybe we can break through the ice one crack at a time. Maybe if we change our habit to really try to connect, just one opportunity at a time. One swing of the pick at a time. Maybe if we can just try to interact, to communicate, to actually connect even if just for a few short minutes. Perhaps we will come to understand that the encounters aren’t actually throwaway after all and that the humans around us are worthy of our respect, not just obligatory eye contact. Maybe we can say something that lets our coworkers know we really do care about what happens outside of their 8-5 weekday life...
Perhaps our next expression of Merry Christmas could be just that - a true and sincere hope that the person across from us finds peace and happiness in their celebration of the birth and amazing gift of God’s only Son. Maybe we still have time to be a bright spot on a dark night or a warm glow in a cold season.
I pray that my interactions with you will add a log to your fire and a light to your tree. I hope that I can slow myself down, take a breath and honor the creation across from me with the time and attention they deserve, even in a chance encounter in a hallway or doorway.
I pray my Merry Christmases are sincere and my hello is merely an opening line...to a meaningful connection with a child of God and a unique and wonderful creation! I am hopeful that there are others who are lonely in crowded spaces, who long for meaningful connection, and who will be brave enough to ask how I'm doing and care to hear the real answer. I pray that I can connect with you and find out what your hopes for the future are, and just maybe I can help along your journey to get there, or at least listen intently to the rest of your story...
