Some Things Never Change

One of the activities we offer at the Wesley is a meal on Thursdays.  Actually, we offer two weekly, but this post involves the meal we offered yesterday.  At each meal we ask students to sign in, so that we might begin to learn names and to give us some reference point for how many meals we are preparing.  It is always good to be able to plan ahead and to have an idea of how much food may be required.

We also ask a Question of the Day.  Most are fun, to encourage them to exercise the portions of their mind that have been suppressed by lectures, exams and specific tasks for a few days.   Occasionally we ask a question to give them a chance to express the things most important to them.

Yesterday’s question asked them what they find to be the most beautiful sound to their ears.   Some wrote down a symphony or a specific song.  What I found most fascinating was that the majority of them spoke of the voices of family members, of their children, or others they love.

Beyond the indicators of life stage: non-traditional students answering “my children”, etc., the essential point was this: what was important were other human beings.  It spoke to the basic element of community we all seek.

Here they are.  Most live in dormitories, or in houses with others.   They are surrounded by their friends and acquaintances.  They are in classes all day, the library all day, and they live in the middle of a very close community.

Yet they spend a great deal of their days silently walking to or from a class.  Many of them are on cell phones to others.  When I combined these responses with what I observe all day long is that people are lonely creatures.  They need and want relationships.

Often they (and we) struggle to make sense of the relationships we have.  But we need them.  We crave them.  That is true for the person sitting in a biology lecture hall, a person sitting in a cubicle or in a nursing home room.

For older adults who wonder why young people are so different, they are not – not really.  For parents who can not understand what is driving their children’s behavior and thinking, they are seeking the very thing we all want.  Community.

The future therefore is likely to look a great deal like its past.   We will always spend our time either in community or searching for that illusive life component.   And in the end, the rest is non-essential.

What is the most beautiful sound to your ears?