A soft rain and a chilly breeze alert me that the weather has caught up to the calendar. I can turn off my A/C and get out my sweaters. My plans to putter in the yard are put on hold. This will be an inside day. I look forward to snuggling under a blanket with a cup of hot tea or hot chocolate. I might not see anyone today.
Connecting with others is vital to mental health. We learned that during the pandemic. Today, connecting can happen in a myriad of ways, the splashy methods often overshadowing the quieter ones. I’ve seen the quips – four million likes, sixty thousand followers, two hundred thousand subscribers. I have friends who follow thousands of people on twitter. I also have friends who don’t do social media at all. I have friends who don’t text. I would still prefer to have a conversation using my vocal chords.
My writing associates talk a lot about connecting with readers. Not so much because they think you, the reader, need to hear about what they, the writers, have to say; but because connection is vital. It’s the underlying emotion behind those “tell how we met” posts.
It’s got me thinking about how Jesus connected with people. He had every possible means of communication at His disposal. If it didn’t exist, He could create it with a word. He could have come in this age of international, instantaneous communication. But He didn’t.
Jesus walked the earth when walking was the predominate means of travel. Jesus met with people one on one. Jesus spoke to whomever gathered around him, one woman or five thousand men. To our knowledge, He never wrote a letter. His words come to us filtered through the ears and pens of others.
It almost seems like Jesus was more concerned with the connections He was making than with the words He was speaking. And yet, such words!
Come to me, all of you that are weary and are carrying heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28.
It’s easy to be concerned about what we say, to whom, and who hears it, reads it, comments on it. I worry about the words spoken in error, in haste, in anger, in ignorance. But words, as poignant as they can be, are secondary to connection.
When I am connected with someone, when I have a relationship with them, I can forgive those words spoken in haste, in anger. Hopefully, they can too. I worry about the words I send out each week. We are not speaking one-on-one, using our vocal chords, but I do feel connected to you, and I pray you feel connected to me.
Take a moment today to connect with God. Sit in silence. Stand with your feet in the grass and take deep breaths. Turn your face to the sky and feel the raindrops or the sunshine. Read a chapter of the Bible with your mind open to what the Holy Spirit wants to say.
God loves you. He wants to take you in His arms and comfort you. He wants you to let go of the tight grip you have on your life and let the tears flow. He has this, whatever this is. Your fears? He is greater. Your anger? He has soothing balm. Your guilt? He will wash it away.
God won’t make your life easy. No one’s life is easy; the problems are just different for each of us. God connects with us. God sent His Spirit to walk with us twenty-four, seven. God created the deepest connection ever imagined – He sent His Spirit to live in us. That is connected, my friend.
Do you not know that you are God’s temple and that God’s Spirit dwells in you? 1 Corinthians 3:16.
We are not alone. We never were and we never will be. God is with us. I pray you take a moment to reach out to God today. And after that, reach out to whomever he puts in your mind. Use your vocal chords and connect.
Love in Christ, Betsy
The Victory Garden 