Here’s a great quote from Samuel Wells’s God’s Companions: Reimagining Christian Ethics: “When people of the current generation talk about keeping in touch, what they usually mean is email, mobile phones, landlines, or even perhaps a letter. The irony is that none of these involve touching anybody. Eating together is one way, perhaps the most important way, in which people learn to touch one another. In eating together, they become one another’s companions--bread-sharers.”
I know distance makes keeping in touch with others very difficult. I constantly experience the painful feeling of being apart from many people I love. It seems like we can channel this longing for close relationship in several different ways. One way that may not be helpful is relying exclusively upon technology to meet our relational needs. Don’t get me wrong, I think technology is great. I have a blog. I have a Facebook account and enjoy it very much. I’ve even written on how the Internet is a real community. But I have to remind myself that technological communication cannot replace the experience of a face-to-face, bodily meeting with another person. This is really tough to remember in our culture of gadgets. Even the phone call, one of the most basic gadgets around, cannot replace talking with another person face-to-face.
The relentless production of new forms of communication requires us to be very intentional about preserving the practice of making local friendships. This will be especially hard on those accustomed to relying solely on long-distance friendships. It seems easier just to contact the long-distant friends using technology than it does developing an entirely new friendship. We all know finding new friends takes a lot of time. But I don’t think it’s worth the cost of neglecting face-to-face friendship. There’s something deeply real and Christian about a face-to-face encounter, especially over a meal. I think the communion table is a symbol of this deep reality. Genuine relationship is nourished by breaking bread together. Despite the newness and the risk involved, the forming of face-to-face friendships over meals is perhaps one of the most Christian, and counter-cultural things we could do. So, do you know any good places to eat around here? Matt
