Connectors

We just got a DVR (whatever that is) to let us record TV shows we’d like to see and play them later. I confess I have been no help in “connecting” the box to our TV “system.” I note that there are cables running to and fro through the system, similar to the “system” we tried to set up Sunday morning, connecting a laptop to the TV in our SS room.

We had previously used a kids’ portable DVD player; and it, of course, also had cables running to and fro. Some cables have colored pins that match the colored receivers, showing how to connect. I assume the “system” is similar to the mess of cables behind a computer, monitor, printer, scanner, etc. I know “wireless” is the way we are headed, and that can’t come too soon for my liking (if they will work properly).

Sunday, we found we did not have the right cable. Our in-house specialist said that we needed a special “???” cable (he used some letters in his description), and explained we would have to get one before we could connect that laptop to that TV. The result: no connections that day. Oh, we had cables, senders, and receivers, but none that connected.

Perhaps human connections have the same problem. We all seek to send—so we’ll be understood by others; but often because of past experiences, traumas, and ordeals, we are not able to connect as we have faulty cables between us. The result—ineffective communication. Perhaps that’s why we feel left out in a group that seems to be conversing freely. And, perhaps that’s why we have difficulty in one-on-one situations with certain individuals.

Of course we may look “wireless” in our relationships, but we are often without real connections. One more example—my wireless mouse at the office is sometimes crazy. My cursor floats around the screen all by itself and refuses to move when I move the mouse. There is faulty communication between that mouse and that computer.

Have you exhibited faulty communication with others? I know I have. We need to be better connected; however, how do we get the right personal plug-ins? I am pretty sure it has to do with seeking to be aware of the other person’s receptors. If I can connect, then I should be able to understand and be understood.

I am convinced it takes time and effort to develop good connections. Jesus demonstrated his connectivity and the disciples’ lack of it as he watched a communication glitch in Luke 9:46-48.

“An argument started among the disciples as to which of them would be the greatest. Jesus, KNOWING THEIR THOUGHTS, took a little child and had him stand beside him. Then he said to them, "Whoever welcomes this little child in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me welcomes the one who sent me. For he who is least among you all—he is the greatest."

And another instance in Luke 18:31-34

“Jesus took the Twelve aside and told them, "We are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written by the prophets about the Son of Man will be fulfilled. He will be handed over to the Gentiles. They will mock him, insult him, spit on him, flog him and kill him. On the third day he will rise again." The disciples DID NOT UNDERSTAND any of this. Its meaning was hidden from them, and they DID NOT KNOW what he was talking about.”

A little reggae now, but not for a Jamaican vacation:
♫ "One love, one heart
Let's get together and feel all right
As it was in the beginning - One love
So shall it be in the end - One heart
Give thanks and praise to the Lord
And I will feel all right.
Let's get together and feel all right."♫
By Bob Marley from album "Exodus"