STAY CONNECTED

Stay Connected.
What does ‘connected’ mean exactly? This is a saying that we have started using here at First Baptist Maryville. But what does staying connected mean in the middle of a global pandemic? We haven’t been able to have potlucks, dinners, parties, celebrations and worship together. The easy connections that we once depended on are no longer there! So that gets me back to the initial question. What does ‘connected’ mean?

It is more than writing a letter or a phone call. Both are good things and can brighten a day of the recipient, but it is much deeper than that. I was once an outsider in Maryville, Tennessee— completely disconnected. When I moved here, I didn’t know anyone outside of my wife. I left my college town where I had developed deep relationships with people. Buddies that knew my thoughts and feelings without having to voice them. Relationships that had been developed over lots of time. It was time spent at a card table playing rook, it was sharing meals together, playing sports with and against each other. That is what developed “connection” with my groups of friends. I have seen this happen with others groups that scrapbook, knit, quilt and a little bit of everything together. The one thing that is present in all of these events or gatherings— time!

I am reminded of this as I finish a book loaned to me from Bill Robinson, titled “Together”. We were made to be in community and stay connected. I know that it is challenging in a day were every minute of your time is solicited and you are encouraged to distance from everyone. My challenge is to find those people and invest your most valuable asset— your time. So that those relationships can blossom.

That is how we stay connected!