Andrew Greer – The Communion Of Conversation

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Good conversation is challenging. To truly hear another person’s thoughts, or feelings and ideas—Where are they coming from?—requires a great deal of, well … listening. And listening requires a great deal of humility—of setting my agendas down, quieting what is on the tip of my tongue, if only for a few moments so that I might make some mental and emotional contact with what it is the person across from me is wanting to communicate.

Conversation does not always afford us perfect agreement in our perspectives, but as we listen, and as we are heard, we learn something new about one another. And in the process of learning something new about one another, we often uncover something new about God.

It’s as if good conversation is the starting place for true communion.

In our modern day Information Age culture, we struggle with how we speak to one another. Through the phenomenal technological advancements of the last century—even the last decade—we can share with one another from anywhere, about anything, in real time. But this twenty-four-seven social networking creates an illusion of connectivity when in actuality it is a shallow substitute for real-live face time relationship (a phrase common to man long before Apple coined it as an iPhone application). But when we take the time to rub shoulders with our neighbors, to sit down at the table and commune with one another over focused conversation, we are instantly connected by our shared experience of being human. And suddenly, we are not only heard, we are known.

In this special CCM Magazine “Conversations” issue, we want to dive into the topic of what good conversation might mean. And our hope is that, even through the context of our Q&As inside these pages, you might be challenged to begin some new conversations, and therefore inspire a new level of relationship, with the people surrounding you everyday in your spaces of community at home… | For Table Of Contents, please click the cover image below (or scroll below to select “Page 2” for individual stories):

The Dec. 1, 2017 edition of CCM Magazine

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CLICK “2” FOR INDIVIDUAL STORY LINKS