Every September, the staff at Sara’s school has a party to celebrate the start of the new school year and to welcome new staff to the group. This year’s event was the best one ever.
One of the teachers said he would host everyone in his backyard. Then, he made a great decision. He brought his Alexa, a voice operated computer that is hooked to the Internet, out into the yard and said, “We are going to go around the circle and you have to tell Alexa to play a song and then you have to explain why you like that song and what it means to you.”
People would ask Alexa to play a song and then say, “This was our graduation song”, or “This is the first song that we danced to at our wedding.” Someone else would play one and then tell about seeing that band in concert.
I was surprised, not only by the range of musical styles, but by the range of the stories themselves. It was so much fun that most of us stayed there until 1:30 in the morning.
Before that night, they were just a group of nice people. Now, they are people that I know something about. Before, they were defined by their job. Now, in my mind, they are defined by their stories. Previously, I knew them. Now, I really like them.
That is how it always works. We feel close to those that we know. We are, as scripture says, “united in love” (Colossians 2:2). We are not united by agreeing about everything. We are united when we care about each other.
Unfortunately, we live in a time where most people keep others at arm’s length. We think it is somehow dangerous to let others get too close or to know too much about ourselves. However, that only serves to isolate us and make us more suspicious of others. Add in the forced separation of the pandemic restrictions and, suddenly, many people feel lonely and discouraged.
However, being connected solves a lot of problems. As 1 Peter 4:8 says, “Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.”
Why not take a chance and drop your guard a little?
The only way to be close is to be known.
