And God blessed me with exactly what I needed -- human interaction in the form of good conversation.
I'm thinking of Jesus and the woman at the well in John 4. They have this great conversation about spiritual truths where the woman learns that Jesus is the Messiah and her entire life is changed. When the disciples come back they urge Jesus to eat. He replies, "I have food to eat that you do not know about."
In verse 34 Jesus explains that this food "is to do the will of Him who sent me, and to accomplish His work."
Part of that doing is interacting with people. Actually, most of the doing is just that -- real conversation with others. Connecting with them on a real honest level where we get past the niceties and just talk. What a delight that kind of conversation is. And Jesus was an incredible conversationalist. He knew how to cut throught the surface and get to the real person.
I sometimes get to do this but not often. When I do get to engage in this kind of real conversation what a glorious thing it is!
Do you have this kind of conversation regularly?
How do we show each other our true selves in day-to-day interactions? Maybe smiling big and looking into each other's eyes could be a start. One person I met this weekend is named Shirley. She is an older woman I probably will never see again, but we shared a few words and a few smiles and it was very good.
Our modern society encourages isolation even in the midst of all the connectedness that goes on. Isolation is the enemy's tactic to discourage and distract each of us.
I pray you have good interactions today. I pray you give someone a big smile. I pray you reach out. I pray you know you are loved.