I remember the moment in this photo with clarity. I was in Wisconsin visiting my parents. We met my high school friend, Rhoda, for breakfast at a place called Burnt Toast. I’d thrown on jeans and a sweater. I wore no makeup and didn’t care that I wore no makeup. We drank coffee out of those thick white diner mugs, refilled at least three times. We lost track of time. We laughed and laughed and laughed. My parents caught it on film.
This was five years ago.
And as it popped up on a personal feed today, I realize:
This defines what I most desire out of life.
Lord, as I raise my children to be good people, may they know THIS. May they know and seek this deep rightness of family and friends – even new acquaintances – in moments when all that is required is to show up and share life.
The trophies, the acquisitions, the promotions – while they have much to offer in their own ways, they don’t, can’t, top this.
Why? Because we are human. While we are capable of doing many things, we are human beings first. And, by that definition, I believe we are meant to be first. Like this: prioritizing time to be and connect with others in meaningful ways that anchor our hearts and minds in good places.
If we learn to do this, to model it for and teach it to our children, then when we each begin to dream about what we’ll do… THIS is what will guide us to do great things, things that matter to human life, the human heart. We will find that the foundation of love and connection we’ve fostered can do little other than to widen our connections, our love of – and for – humanity. In essence, our doing will become parallel with our being.
And then someday, while we’re drinking our third cup of coffee together, we and our children, maybe even our grandchildren, will pause just long enough to look around us and realize… the world has become a better place.
Because of this.
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If this post resonates with you, if you crave community as I do, you might also like this post from December: Meet Me at the Tree: Craving Community.
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