How are you?

I ran some errands today and saw some people I knew.
It is always nice to catch up, even briefly with someone.

Did you ever notice the niceties we say to people we don’t know?

I was at the cash register today, laying my few things down ready to purchase them.
Hello…I said as I got my things together.
Without looking up, the cashier said, Fine…how are you?

It made me stop.
I didn’t ask that…I didn’t ask anything.
I was just laying my things down in order to buy them.

I smiled...no need to correct.
I’m fine, thank you.
But it made me think.

What are our “go-to” statements…the polite things we say?
Are we really listening to each other?

Ask the usual How are you?
Take a moment and listen to the tired I’m fine response.

But what if we asked the question again?
How ARE you?

Do we have an afternoon?
Are we ready for the outpouring of stories we might hear?
Do we know how desperate people are to have someone to listen to them?

Ask the question just one more time and wait for a real answer.
Do we dare?

Both types of conversations happened to me today.
Another woman, who works at one of the stores I go to often, talked to me today about her daughter. She was so proud of something her daughter did, and just had to tell someone.
I am really glad she did.
It is a privilege to be a listening ear for someone.

But being that listening ear also means praying for integrity.
Not a hint of gossip, or judgment.
We must take care of the heart that has been placed in our hands.
It is a privilege but a huge responsibility.

We are so disconnected as a culture.
Oh, we have our technology, and our lists of friends that get cursory glances into our lives.
But gone are the days of talking over the fence as you hang laundry, or borrowing that cup of sugar, or sitting on the porch and waving to neighbors as they walk by.

With extended families far away from each other, people are desperate for relationships.
The “one-another-ing” the Bible talks about so often.
It is vital to let others see the Jesus we serve, by the way we love and serve them.

I was thinking about how much of Jesus’ life was a series of detours.

Jesus is going to the house of a little girl who is dying, and a bleeding woman touches the edge of his garment in order to be healed. (Luke 8: 40-56)
Detour. Grace. Healing. Salvation.

Jesus hears that His cousin, John the Baptist was beheaded in prison. He withdrew by boat to a solitary place. The crowds followed Him. (Matthew 14: 1-21)
Detour. Compassion. Miracle. Feeding the 5,000.

Jesus told the parable of the shepherd who has one hundred sheep and loses one. He leaves the other ninety-nine in the open country and goes after the lost sheep until he finds it. (Luke 15:1-7)
Detour. Lost. Found. Rejoicing.

Jesus’ detours were part of His Father’s plan.

How about our detours?
Instead of getting annoyed, or worrying about our schedule, what if we saw our detours as part of the Father’s plans?
They are, you know.

That conversation we don’t think we have time for, may just be the most important thing we do today, according to God’s sovereign plan.
That one-another-ing that will make us late, may be the only way that someone sees Jesus.

Are we ready?

How are you?
How ARE you?

Wait and see what God does with those three little words.

Speak, Lord, for your servant is listening. (1 Samuel 3:9)