What does it mean to be “well-connected?” Most of us probably associate the term with status, getting ahead, knowing the “right” people. Okay, so that all may have its place. The trouble is some of us adopt that as our way of dealing with people generally. There are some very successful-looking people around who have no authentic relationships because the only way they relate to others is to see other people as means to some end. They are, then, constantly posturing, putting on the right practised face, using the set lines and platitudes they have in their repertoire for any situation. How sad.
Such connecting means objectifying people. It’s no different than what countries’ tyrants do to their people, some employers do with their employees–or some employees do with other employees. And when we objectifying people, well, it’s the first step toward any sort of abuse we may find useful. Or it just make us feel powerful. It is at the heart of why there is no real peace in the world. We don’t know how to connect, or, more likely, don’t want to.
The Apostle Paul said, “Let love be genuine” (Romans 12:9 NRSV). Well, that’s not really saying anything, you might observe. He might as well say, “Let love be love.” But the sense is, “Don’t just play a role” (the Greek behind this coming from the world of drama). In other words, Connect for real. He goes on in Romans 12 to list important qualities to that love, that real connecting, in which we actually relate to one another as human beings, created and loved by God.
If we practise this real connecting, it will not only be great for us and our releationships, but may work back into our larger connecting, and the way the world around us connects with itself. It is connecting for peace.