The unconnected life

In a world of millions of people it seems impossible that anyone could live life really unconnected to anyone else... but so it seems. How can so many people live in such small places and yet not be connected? However, it appears, at least in part, we have succeeded. The movie, "Its a Wonderful Life" seems to debunk this theory right off the bat. It seems Jimmy Steward’s character was connected to so many even though he didn’t realize it. But that’s a movie right? It doesn't seem to eliminate the cries of many hearts who feel that there is no one for them; no one that really knows them or is connected to them in some deep way.

Even married people sometimes feel this incongruence. It is profound and deep, numbingly hurtful and woefully regrettable. It causes one to live a life as though they were in a bubble - traveling through life but never really making that touch with someone at the heart level. Sure, there are people you know, people that know you, but no one that seems to want to connect and really know who are through and through. Is it that these unconnected souls are so scary? Is it that they possess some strange aura that forbids other to come and invest in them? Is that they are blindly misguided by their self-absorbed assessment of life and merely see things through a glass half empty? Who knows?

Maybe this is what the ancient scriptures talked about when it said that we "would be aliens and pilgrims in this world... for this is not our home." Maybe. But even if it is, it makes living life in the now a difficult prospect and a lonely journey.

Where is community in our world? Is it in the throngs of well wishers and ideological chatterers who join up with one political party or the other? Is it with the street gangs who marshal the interest of unconnected kids in inner cities? Is it in the churches or synagogues where a common faith and practice should unite the people of God, but often provide mere glancing bushes with community leaving an even deeper hunger for more? Is on the field of battle where your life is dependant on another's willingness to fight with you? Or is it at the coffee shop where the patrons sit and exchange pleasantries of the day and discuss all the topics and places I've mentioned above?

Maybe the best community in this world is found not in something or someplace but rather in Someone. Who would this someone be? For me, it would have to be Jesus.

"But wait a minute!" you might say. "How can you have community with someone that you can't even sit and talk to?” Well in my experience, I have sat and talked to many and haven't found real community or connection with them either. To be connected to Him, the author and lover of my soul, is to truly find community that passes my deepest understandings and longings. Does the painter know his painting? Does the sculpture know every nuance of his sculpture? Does the Creator know his creation? Indeed He does!

Granted, it is not an easy thing to do – this connecting with the Creator - and the silence sometimes is deafening, but when it is good it is really, really good! Can I say the same for the personal contacts I enjoy? Sorta. But honestly, they are more miss than hit; more about them then me; more about what can they connect and take, than what they can invest and share.

So if you are feeling a bit disconnected these days, a bit out there floating in your own bubble without anyone seeming to even notice that you ache, hurt, long, or yearn, take heart. There is One who knows and sees and wants to connect. Find a quiet place, a comfy chair, an empty meadow, an old park bench, and talk to Him - or better yet, listen to Him. I think you will be amazed at what he has to say to you and how He wants to connect with you. I have a feeling you won't be disappointed.