Okay, so what do you think of when you hear the word "communication"? Do images of telephones leap to your head? What about conversations with others, in which you relay information on to them? Do you think of emails, Facebook posts, Twitter feeds, and the like? Or perhaps you're more inclined to think of TV shows and radio news networks.
For a few moments today, I want to reflect on the actual word itself. When you look at the word "communication", think of the different words that you know which are related to it, or which share a common root. Communion. Commune. Common. Communicate. I'm sure you can come up with a few more than my brief little list here.
What do these words all have in common? (Notice how I slipped that in? Nice, eh?) They all speak about something which connects together. When you think of communion, you think of gathering together with others. You come together around a specific purpose, which connects you and unites you to the others in the group. When you live in a commune, you live with like-minded people, sharing your lives together. When you have something in common, it is shared among all with some degree of equality. And when you communicate, you connect with one another by sharing information that becomes common for both of you, thus connecting you together.
Communication is of vital importance to us as human beings. We simply cannot exist without communication with others. Still to this day, one of the worst threats to prisoners is solitary confinement. Nations have banned sensory deprivation as a means of interrogation, a means by which a person is cut off from communication with other people and surroundings. And how often do you hear about someone who does some of the truly despicable actions we have seen in our lifetimes without hearing that they were alone, or didn't communicate and connect with others? Most often, we hear that they didn't connect with others a lot, and were loners, or spent a lot of time alone.
Communication is vital to our existence. Without it, things go wrong. And we communicate by a variety of means, some of which we'll talk about this week. Even as I write these words, I'm communicating with a lot of you. And we'll spend a little time looking at the depth to which communication can go, especially as we think about what God has done for us in Jesus.
For a few moments today, I want to reflect on the actual word itself. When you look at the word "communication", think of the different words that you know which are related to it, or which share a common root. Communion. Commune. Common. Communicate. I'm sure you can come up with a few more than my brief little list here.
What do these words all have in common? (Notice how I slipped that in? Nice, eh?) They all speak about something which connects together. When you think of communion, you think of gathering together with others. You come together around a specific purpose, which connects you and unites you to the others in the group. When you live in a commune, you live with like-minded people, sharing your lives together. When you have something in common, it is shared among all with some degree of equality. And when you communicate, you connect with one another by sharing information that becomes common for both of you, thus connecting you together.
Communication is of vital importance to us as human beings. We simply cannot exist without communication with others. Still to this day, one of the worst threats to prisoners is solitary confinement. Nations have banned sensory deprivation as a means of interrogation, a means by which a person is cut off from communication with other people and surroundings. And how often do you hear about someone who does some of the truly despicable actions we have seen in our lifetimes without hearing that they were alone, or didn't communicate and connect with others? Most often, we hear that they didn't connect with others a lot, and were loners, or spent a lot of time alone.
Communication is vital to our existence. Without it, things go wrong. And we communicate by a variety of means, some of which we'll talk about this week. Even as I write these words, I'm communicating with a lot of you. And we'll spend a little time looking at the depth to which communication can go, especially as we think about what God has done for us in Jesus.
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