The thought hit me while sitting in a diner in Michigan. It was influenced by many things, such as the reality of having no communication in a few weeks time, the movie LION which I had seen just the other day (and highly recommend), and the debate in my head on whether or not to reach out to someone.
Life's simple pleasures can be taken away easily and quickly. They are also most definitely taken for granted. This occurred to me as I sat thinking about my upcoming trip as I will have little to no communication with friends and family back home. I take this age of communication and connectivity for granted, to be sure. But in my thought process from above, I mused, What if I don't come back? What if something happens to those people while I'm gone? What if I had the chance to say something but never did?
In the movie, the story centers around a little boy who gets lost at the age of five. This is based on a true story, and he is going through this a few years before I was even born. Therefore, there is no Internet or Google or GPS or any such thing at that time, just good, old fashioned newspaper articles flashing a missing child picture. But he is in India, which is a ginormous country, and his mother is illiterate. She searches; he searches. He was not found until 25 years later, after Google maps makes its presence to help fuel his search. The part of the movie that hit me most strongly, especially in that diner as I replayed the movie in my mind, was the scene in which he is on a train and telling his mom that he loves her. He believes he will never see her again or be able to tell her in person that he loves her and misses her. In the end, he does get to do those things but, as a five-year-old, he realized he may never. How gut-wrenching is that?
When people pop into my mind, I don't think it's a mistake. I typically say a little prayer for them, and yet, more often than not these days, I will at least send a text saying that I'm thinking of them. I like that better. Therefore, my conclusion as to whether or not text a friend was that it was stupid not to do so. I have the time and opportunity, so why waste it? Besides, who knows when contact will truly be lost or if the person needed a friendly reminder of one who cared that day?
I think of friends who have moved on, I think of friends who have married and basically fallen off the face of the earth, I think of my brother who I can't talk to anymore...
I think of my sphere of influence that has changed and will keep changing, I think of old friends who've kept in touch, I think of my family whom I love dearly and don't say so to them often enough…
I think of Colossians 3:12-17
"12 Put on then, as God's chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience,
13 bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive.
14 And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.
15 And let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, to which indeed you were called in one body. And be thankful.
16 Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.
17 And whatever you do, in word or deed, do everything in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."
I hope to exude the qualities in verses 12 and 13 to others, have love bind and peace permeate, and be ever grateful. All for God's glory.
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