Closing the Gap

Globalization has become a fascinating topic of late. The connectedness of our world is evident in the spread of people, goods, pandemics, and ideas. In 1781, it took 6 weeks for anything to cross the Atlantic Ocean including the news of the British surrender at Yorktown. It took a king 6 weeks in 1781 to get information that would now reach the world in an instant! That’s the power of globalization!

There are also challenges to globalization. Connectedness makes boundaries harder to define and the movement of anything harder to control. The world has become drastically smaller, not because space has been reduced, but because of the speed to close that space. We’ve seen the inherent risks with the airline tragedies of late. I know our hearts grieve. Managing movement in a globalized world becomes a great challenge even as the benefits are present too.

Proximity brings with it the potential for both reward and loss. There is great power in connectedness. Whether it’s two nations or two lives, the more connected we are the more dependent we are on each other. Here in lies the power of relationships.

I’m a natural connector but struggle with connectedness. Maybe it has something to do with moving often in my formative years. We moved 6 times as a family before my 5th-grade year, not to different houses, but to towns. I got pretty good at getting in the mix without being overly connected. It helped to reduce impending loss in the event of another move, but it also hindered the reward of deeper relationships. It was safer that way for everyone, or so I believed. I’m breaking out of this tendency as I experience the power of connectedness. There is a richness in relationships that develops over the long haul.

There is a sort of space that closes through connectedness. It’s not a physical gap that closes like globalization, but a space infinitely wider. It’s the space between two minds and hearts and all the beautiful complexity that lies within.

I am a broken person and maybe you are too. The accumulation of experience and memory occupies a large room in my soul. That mixed bag makes me who I am today. Some memories bring gladness while others are hard to bear. It’s trusted friends who help release those things that have been redeemed and rekindle those things that bring us joy. But it doesn’t happen apart from connectedness. And connectedness can be risky.

No one can replace Jesus; He alone is the perfect relationship. But I thank God for those He puts in our way to remind us of the reward of connectedness even in the hard. If you’re in a relationship (parent, friend, marriage), short of Jesus, it will always involve reward and loss. We’re human.

Bethany is closer to me than any human past, present, or future. If I head off to Glory before she does (and there’s likely a 50% chance!), I hope she finds a Fabio with a lot of cash to take care of her. Cut abs and cash are two things I’ll never have. But for me, God broke the mold on May 12th, 1981, when He brought Bethany Kate Roberston into the world. She beat me by a few years, but I got to her as quickly as I could. She’s been my person since the day I laid eyes on her from the balcony of the church. We keep closing the gap.