Connections

When I was younger, and even now, if I were telling my parents or grandparents about meeting someone new and mentioned the person's first and last name, a round of questions was almost certain to ensue. Not in the form of an interrogation, but as the beginning of a conversation...

"Is he related to so-and-so? She might be his grandmother. Do you know his daddy's name? Does his grandpa live over on thus-and-such road? Did they have goats in the early '80s? Yeah, I think his uncle used to drive that old '74 Chevy pick-up...I towed him up outta Sims Creek that summer it flooded."

Now these are not direct quotes from any specific conversation, and if they were I likely would not be able to provide accurate answers, but you get the idea. It is all about how people are connected. Maybe it's because this was a big part of the culture I grew up in, maybe it's a personality trait I've inherited from one, or both, of my parents, but I can't help but make connections. When I play trivia games, especially if one of my siblings is a teammate, I work toward the answer through a series of connections. When I meet people for the first time, I may talk too much because I'm trying to find a connection, a common interest, a mutual friend, something that links us.

Being connected doesn't end with trivia and social interactions for me. It is woven throughout my life experiences, encounters I've had, people I've known, places I've been, and even my beliefs about God. It motivates my actions and reactions daily.

As an eighth grader, I remember being required to copy a quote from the board each day, then journal about what I thought it meant. One day we copied a brief quote from John Donne, "...No man is an island entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main..." Some time later I read more of Donne's Devotions upon Emergent Occasions from which this quote was taken. It resonated with me.

I'm glad that we are connected. I am thankful that this is part of the heritage that was passed down to me. It allows me to see my neighbor as a neighbor, even if we don't speak the same language. It encourages me to be charitable and hospitable, without a prerequisite. It causes me to grieve a loss of life, even when I didn't know the people involved intimately. It gives me hope, that when I improve a moment in a day for one person, the consequence can impact numerous others. It also reminds me, that my choices will always have consequences (positive or negative) and those consequences are not limited to me, because, after all, I am connected to others.