Who Moved My Conversation?

Yesterday my 13-year-old finally had enough. He registered his vehement opposition to one of the worst changes in his world as a result of the Coronavirus. "I'm so tired of using gas station toilet paper! Why do we have to keep getting GAS STATION TOILET PAPER?!" My wife and I laughed together and celebrated the benefits the "Great Toilet Paper Famine of 2020" is having on our spoiled kids.

The conversation at our house has certainly changed over the past few months. Other than talking about toilet paper and hand sanitizer, it's a bit more serious and a lot more intimate. While much of our silliness has remained in tact, a lot of the "silly" stuff of life has gone by the wayside, for now at least. Instead of talking about drop-off and pick-up points and times with our kids, we're talking about the struggles that other families in our community are experiencing. Rather than praying for success on the running track or in the school musical, we're praying for families we don't even know, and their loved ones who are dying alone. We now talk to neighbors we've never met before about how they're kids are handling online school, while we stand in the middle of the street. Previously we may or may not have offered a quick wave as we drove by them when they were taking out their garbage cans.

The changes in conversation are bringing a new depth to our relationships. Hopefully we can all hold on to this new, deeper connection at home in the future. Without silly professional sports, fantasy teams, and the overwhelming drama of youth sports to steal our attention and discussions, hopefully the conversation at work will change more permanently too. Rather than talking about the weekend weather, maybe we'll keep talking about our families and how they are weathering the storm of anxiety and change swirling around us. Maybe we'll keep talking about parents and grandparents, their health, and the pain we share in separating from them.

Wouldn't it be great if we knew people more genuinely and actually cared about them more? In our neighborhoods, at work and at church? I know everyone's eager to get back to "normal" but I hope the new normal includes the new conversation. I doubt it will last long, but we, as Christians, should strive to continue talking about things that really matter. Not silly things like baseball statistics or which select team our kids are playing on. Things that matter eternally. People. And relationships. And overcoming stress and worry through faith in our great God. And to keep it real, and savory, an occasional nod to gas station toilet paper.