Connections

"In everyone's life, at some time, our inner fire goes out. It is then burst into flame by an encounter with another human being. We should all be thankful for those people who rekindle the inner spirit." ~Albert Schweitzer

I just came across this quotation, and it happened to sum up my thoughts at that moment exactly.  (well, almost).  You see, I was thinking about relationships (again).  I happened to have just reconnected with some old friends on facebook, who I haven't been in touch with for a good few years, now.  And with that, old and precious memories were rekindled within me, and a flame burst into life again.

We all have people in our lives, who we interact with to various degrees.  Some of these interactions are life changing, others not so much.  The degree to which we interact with certain people I think determines who we are, our values, and our actions.  You see, whether we realise it or not, we are under the influence of somebody all of the time - as it was once very adeptly put in a song.  When I think of these interactions between different people, an image comes into my head.  An image of threads, reaching out, from heart to heart, some more than others, some connections stronger than others, some failing, some being cut off.  I wonder, if we could see all the connections between people, maybe it would look like a beautiful and complex tapestry, a web of intracate threads all woven together.  Or perhaps like the invisible strings that hold the universe together.   When we meet a stranger for the first time it is like these threads are cautiously reaching out, finding common connections and then attaching themselves.  Like a mother connected by the umbilical cord to her baby, we depend on other people for our nourishment and sustenance in difficult times.  The friends we choose depend of what kind of sustenance we get.  Choose wrongly and we may end up with a very uncomfortable case of indigestion.

We are relational people.  We need to be connected.  As anyone knows, to be alone for an extended period of time is extremely difficult.

As Christians we share a special connection within the church or body of believers.  The Connection that holds us together and sustains us, and the head of the body.  To be cut off from Him is to lose our source of nourishment and strength.  To be cut off from each other is to be isolated from the body, to be amputated, to put it more graphically.  We need the veins flowing between us to be functioning at our full potential as a church.

A thought I wrote a while ago, but have just decided to publish...