Conversations About Whatever

Yesterday I made an appointment to meet with a friend/colleague at the local café so we could touch base about something that we have worked on together from time to time. We arrived at the café, got a coffee, found a seat and proceeded to catch up. It was wonderful. About a half an hour into our time together an acquaintance of my friend, who had come in to pick up a coffee, saw us as he was leaving and stopped for a brief moment to say hello. That brief hello turned into an hour and a highlight to my week.

Our conversation included church, religion, politics, health care, racism, sexism, drugs, community and a few other things. When we were about to leave my friend said

“These are the kinds of conversations that I think our world is missing. Times to really just allow the moment to guide us, to share and learn and be open with one another.”

I think that my friend is right. We take so little time just to have open conversations about whatever. Most of what we do is about something specific, or we communicate around topics via email, text or social media and we spend less and less time just hanging out and talking, solving the problems of the world in our own space, exchanging idea and debating.

What I loved about this encounter, and others like it, is that we would start in one place, ask a few questions which would inevitably lead to more questions and then we would meander down another path that triggered yet more questions and more conversation.

I am reminded of the book “Living The Questions” by David Felten and Jeff Procter-Murphy. In it they talk about the importance of questioning and how this is really at the heart of life and growth. They write

“Wrestling with life’s injustices, resisting the urge to be satisfied with the way the world is, and asking difficult questions are all at the heart of theological integrity and spiritual growth.”

Rainer Maria Rilke writes

“Don’t search for answers… live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far into the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.”

Yesterday we did not change the world nor did we arrive at any answers but I believe that each of us left a little different than when we sat down. I know that I left feeling fed spiritually, intellectually, and energized for the day.

Blessings
Valerie