Yesterday I went on a local hike with a outdoor group. I had never met most of these folks and while we were of all different ages and experience levels, I knew we would have a good time. We had a connection because we had a common interest and goal for the day. I think this is an important part of being a human; we seek and need connection. There are many reasons but one of the top, I believe, is connecting with God through others. Obviously, God is not present on earth in human form so we can’t connect directly that way. We CAN connect to Him through others. We are all made in his image, which means when we interact with others we are interacting with God. So cool right!?
Throughout the whole adventure, we were chatting about different aspects of each others lives, asking the usual surface level questions. As conversations diverged, more philosophical and personal opinions came up. As I was listening, I was just thinking how fascinating humans are that we have all these different experiences and thoughts and feelings and that is one of the ways we interact with the world. We bring a part of ourselves to others and share ourselves. By sharing with others, we are sharing God without even trying. I think this divine connection is one of the reasons we’re such social creatures. We seek out and desire connection with others because that is us seeking God.
I see many patients that are alone and you can feel the need for human connection. We enjoy sitting down and just having a conversation, which is one of our main modes of connection. We listen, we talk, we share; it is a give and take. We enjoy the company and physical presence of another person. We make eye contact, hear the voice of another, and touch of a handshake or a hand on the shoulder. We use the senses God gave us to feel and transmit emotion and further connection with God through others. When we are alone, we lose this opportunity that is vital for our spiritual and physical well-being.
We can continue to share in this experience by being present and aware when interacting with others, in any capacity. There was a quote from motivational speaker Jim Rohn “Welcome all experiences. You never know which one is going to turn everything on.” So I invite you to this opportunity for growth and serving others to connect with God.
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