We are Made for Connection

Holocaust survivor and author, late Eddy Jaku who called himself the happiest man in the world, (and at 97) at the Sydney TEDx Talk said, "In the sweetness of friendship let there be laughter and sharing of pleasure. Good times made better and bad times forgotten due to the magic of friendship."

I was reflecting that loving God and loving people is the most important life skill I want to pass on to my kids. Jesus regularly shared meals with his friends and we are invited to do the same. We love because He first loved us. Connection matters. One of my sons recently moved back home after a year living overseas. The biggest impact it had on him: he learnt to build a whole network of new and meaningful connections.

German Swiss Poet Herman Hesse, in a famous poem referred to life as steps or stages inviting us to walk joyfully and bravely from one room to the next without making ourselves too comfortable in one. We shouldn't cling to any as if it was our home - we are merely passing through. Many of us can relate to this bittersweet experience when we downsize or move home or lose loved ones.

In life, it matters who is there with us. Who shares moments of significance. That's why airports or hospitals are such emotional places. We are made for connection. Yet so much of our fast-paced world feels disconnected, feels broken.

Veronika Peters
Head of Philanthropy and Fundraising
philanthropy@anglicare.org.au