Miracle of Communication

The reality of communication is really a miracle, when you think about it.

For reasons science cannot fully explain, my self has an idea. My brain or heart or soul (or all three in harmony) come up with an idea, a concept, a thought. And the instruments of my voice vibrate and push sound through invisible waves.

The message travels through space toward my intended target.

At the same time, there is a tiny little cone in my wife’s ear that vibrates and receives the invisible wave with my message floating in it. It enters her brain and filters through the wires of her mind and the mysteries of her heart.

What is truly outstanding is what happens next. We become closer. Intimacy develops between us as a result of this communication. And there is some external truth (maybe it is in the space between us) at which we meet. A shared idea.

Making the Most

Of course, we miss up this miracle, just like with every kind of miracle. Our filters get dirty and we use those devices to say things in improper tones or hear things that aren’t traveling across the sound waves. Just as the goodness of communication develops intimacy, poor communication pulls us apart, separates us from that truth that would otherwise bind us.

Like most miracles, we start to take communication for granted. When we were first dating, Kylie and I lived three thousand miles away from each other. Three Thousand! We communicated via a little video screen almost every night. The whole long distance thing gets a bad wrap. And it is hard. But we learned to appreciate the miracle of communication because of our long distance.

When we were dating, we did not have touch or shared space or shared circumstances to bind us together. All we had was communication. It made us work on it, appreciate it. And although we were ready for it to be over, we look back on it now and are eternally thankful for the foundation it set up for us.

We can make the most of the miracle of communication or we can waste it. We can demand it meets our own needs or we can use it to discover those external truths that pull us together like needle weaving thread into cloth.

Intentional Communication 

We communicate whether we like it or not. The miracle is happening. We are either wasting it or taking advantage of it. But you can’t really opt out of communication.

Because it is so present, so familiar, we assume we know what communication is and how to do it. There is more behind the curtain than we acknowledge. The humility it takes to listen. The barriers our communication has to overcome. Just to name a couple.

We need to be more intentional about the way we communicate. We need be intentional about harnessing one of the great miracles of existence. Communication forms culture and unites communities. It is the lifeblood of every relationship to which you belong. It deserves more from us.