We often speak to many people throughout our day, and even more online in our temple/ community. We build bonds and friendships that can last a lifetime. We share with those in our community details of our lives that we might not be able to share with anyone else. But we are sometimes just names on a screen. Though we may share pictures of ourselves, there is just something about meeting someone in person. But we all know there is a living breathing being at the other end of that name on our screen with their own lives, worries, cares, and struggles. We should not lose sight of that. But let me ask all of you reading this a question. Is there a name you haven't seen in some time? Is there a name who you always remember being there and now isn’t?
I was talking with another knight today and it came to my attention a difference between us when it comes to how we communicate. Communication, as some of you have learned in lessons, is a game of catch. One person starts with the ball and talks as the other listens and then the ball is handed over and the other person gets to talk, and this game of catch continues. Something to think about is that some people focus on an individual conversation; they talk more on a one on one basis. Others are community oriented communicators; they speak with groups in mind and may just toss out random ideas to spark a conversation. Both are needed in a community. Consider the old adage about not seeing the forest through the trees. One sometimes loses sight of the individual trees in the forest. The other sees each tree but not the whole of the forest. You may be asking what my point here is; which one are you? But more importantly, have you lost sight of some of the trees around us? Have they fallen and no one heard them? That thought terrifies me: to think I might have lost track of someone that I talked to every day at some point. Maybe someone that helped me with a summer camp? Yes, people drift in and out of our lives, but we (or better yet, I) often speak of community. But the community helps each other, we support each other. We should check in on each other. It doesn’t take away from us to just message someone whom we haven’t seen in awhile. We can ask in chat if anyone has heard from an individual. We as a community should not lose sight of the trees in the forest. Let us not close our ears to the falling of one of our own. Let us be a community that supports and helps each other grow, through the good days and the bad. Let us see more than just names on the screen. Let us see the beings who hold that name.
