A thought by John Townsend from his book, Loving People (p.50). Thomas Nelson. Kindle Edition. (Click on the book title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.)
He says, “When we connect, we bring these aspects of ourselves into relationship with others:
• Feelings. When we are connected, we can share the emotions we experience about things and people, present and past, whether pleasant or painful.
• Dreams and desires. Another part of Connection involves sharing our deepest longings and wishes—the things we keep protected and share with only a few friends.
• Fears. We are all afraid of something, and connection makes it safe enough to share our fears openly.
• Failures. No one is without mistakes, and when we connect, we let others in on the darker parts of our lives.
• Past. We all have losses and joys in our pasts, and connection means that we want to bring someone else into our personal history.
• The other person. One of the deepest aspects of connection is to let the other person know how you feel and make it safe enough that the relationship is not threatened by this, but rather, strengthened.
• God and spirituality. What we know and experience about God is one of the most intimate things we can convey to another person. When we share our spiritual side, we are letting someone in.”
He then says, “Many people are alienated and disconnected from some part of themselves, and that part, in return, is then disconnected from people. Loving people help others by connecting with them. They are able to create a bridge over the chasm of alienation and distance we all feel in this world. And they are able to then cross the bridge they have created so that there is contact between two individuals. When you reach out and connect, you have brought someone out of isolation, loneliness, fear, or detachment into the world of relationship.”
And we really do need to do that, to reach out and connect and bring someone in our world out of isolation, loneliness, fear, or detachment into the world of relationship. This will also really make a difference in our own life, won’t it?
