It’s hard to believe that someone could be totally lonely in our busy—and seemingly connected–world. There are so many ways to communicate with each other. At least, electronically.
But is it ‘real’ communication? Haven’t you noticed people sitting in restaurants, across the table from each other where conversation would be easy? But they are not in conversation. Instead, they’re fiddling with their iPhones. Each of them, hoping to connect to that piece of equipment for some message they perceive as important–while missing connection with the person directly in front of them.
We are all meant to connect. Truthfully, we’re all connected to each other. Not by cell phone, or Facebook, but by the fact that we’re created in the image of God and because of that, our creation has a common purpose–goodness.
We are not created to be evil. Most people know this personally, otherwise we wouldn’t feel guilt or shame from some certain circumstance we may have caused or had a part in.
We are created to be good. Or we wouldn’t feel joy when a child escapes an accident, or a soldier comes home from Afghanistan to fall into the arms of his family. We wouldn’t appreciate beauty in the landscape, or feel great happiness when we’ve helped another who needs us in some way. We feel this way precisely because we are connected in a distinct way to other human beings.
In the South where I grew up and still live, people often refer to their kinfolks as ‘connections,” meaning connected by blood and a common purpose to stand together as family. And we’ve seen this on a larger scale in America’s reaction to helping others—fellow Americans and those who are not American–after huge disasters such as hurricanes, tornadoes, tsunamis, terrorism, and wars.
A person who helps others, in small ways or large, has found the urge to do so within himself because goodness comes from our Creator. Goodness is set within us. We are made to be good, and the fact that we often do not act ‘good’ does not negate the fact that we can be.
And it does not negate that our purpose to do good is meant to be communicated and shared with others.
Translating a World on the Edge 