I am not a fan of texting. But, I do engage in some. I have watched people text across a table rather than talk face-to-face. I watched, who I presumed to be a father, text while his daughter tried to engage him in verbal conversation. It was father’s day. My heart ached for her. I hope I never get to the point of disappearing into my “Smarter-than-me-phone” at the expense of real relationships. There is something special about eye-ball to eye-ball communication. A real wink is better than an emoji. The warmth of expression. The depth of emotion. Connection that is more than text, emojis, and tweets.
All Thumbs!
What happened to conversation?
What happened to eye-to-eye contact?
What happened to verbal greetings?
What is it like to see people smile?
What happened to relationships?
Tweeting.
Texting.
Relationally, we are all thumbs!
Say what?
Sad.
Richard L. Brewer
02/06/2013
Published by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com
I am Richard Brewer—a Christ-follower, psychologist, husband, father, grandfather (Papa) sometimes writer, and lifelong student of people.
For much of my professional life, I've had the privilege of sitting with people as they wrestle with some of life's most difficult questions—questions about faith, suffering, grief, relationships, identity, failure, hope, and what it means to live well.
Those conversations have changed the way I see people and the way I understand my own faith. They have taught me that life is rarely as simple as our explanations of it, that people are almost always more complicated than they appear, and that sometimes the wisest response to a difficult question is to empathize and to keep asking better questions.
I am a committed Christ-follower, but I am not interested in pretending that Christianity eliminates mystery or that faith means having an answer for everything. Faith invites us to pursue truth honestly, to think deeply, to acknowledge what we do not know, and ultimately to trust the God we do know.
Mediocre Meanderings is where I explore some of those questions.
I write about faith and psychology, grief and suffering, leadership and relationships, aging and ordinary life—and occasionally whatever else catches my attention along the way.
I do not write from the perspective of someone who has figured life out. I write as someone who has lived enough of it to know that I have not.
These are my thoughts, questions, observations, and occasional attempts at wisdom. Take what is useful. Challenge what is not. And, if you would like, meander along with me.
View all posts by sparedbygrace@yahoo.com