Last week I had the opportunity to take a vacation. I really needed to get away but while attempting to do just that I realized that we were not created for just being with ourselves. Various scholars may disagree but let me explain.
The whole purpose of my trip was to escape my busy life by traveling to a place where I had no obligations, duties, and was anonymous. The interesting thing about this is that I found myself looking for just the opposite. I was introducing myself to various strangers asking, “Where are you from?” or “How long have you been here” and other questions in order to find a commonality from which to spark conversation.
One would think that these questions would be met with irritated faces and annoyed responses, but again, quite the opposite. People were eager to connect and find reasons to continue the conversation. My husband, who is typically a tad less of a people person than I am, even invited a couple he met snorkeling to have dinner with us.
Each interaction only solidified what I always knew as truth: that we were designed for community and serve a greater purpose beyond ourselves. If I spent the rest of my days caring only for my immediate needs, and myself then I would lead a meaningless, empty, and isolated life. This is not what we were designed to do with the lives we have been given.
Even in the most isolated places our spirits long for connection. The sad part is that for many individuals it doesn’t take a trip out of the country to bring anonymity and lack of connection. There are individuals experiencing this right next door, in our workplace, and even in our churches.
My question for you is, what are you doing to connect to people and community in your life? What greater purpose were you designed to serve beyond yourself? The answers to these questions may seem easy and come quickly but deep down in your gut ask yourself if there is someone else that just may need to be connected with you.
The more we connect the more life it brings, not only to us, but to those we meet, no matter where we are.