Perhaps most days our conversations are merely pragmatic or casual – addressing what needs to be done or small talk as we move throughout the day. While these conversations have their place, occasionally there’s a need to go deeper.
To be sure, the demands of life don’t always allow for the luxury of deep conversations. Our energy is spent focusing on the tasks that need to be done. And light conversations might be all we have the energy for otherwise.
But it’s through deeper conversations that we cultivate our souls – learning to appreciate more of life and forging meaningful connections with others.
For instance, this is learning to talk about the heart behind our work and not just the work itself. Our wife might not care to talk shop with us per se, but she’s able to connect better with us when we share how God is using our work to make an impact for good in the world around us.
This might also be talking with our son about the journey of sexual formation rather than just telling him to avoid sexual sins. Giving him facts, however true, is not the same as entering into the deeper waters of how we fully embody who we are as men and sexual beings in God’s kingdom.
In the same way, conversations with friends should occasionally shift from merely entertaining to soulful – creating the space to share the deep movements of our heart with each other. This allows us to be iron sharpening iron at the level of the soul.
Whatever it looks like, we miss the richness of life when our conversations remain just on the surface. Life is found in the deeper waters.
In the end, every conversation doesn’t have to go deep. But some do to discover the fullness of life.
Photo by Ketut Subiyanto on Pexels
