Please come as soon as you can.
—2 Timothy 4:9
The apostle Paul’s last New Testament letter was addressed to his protégé, Timothy. He urged him to come for a visit before winter set in. All but one of his companions had moved on to other demands, and Paul was lonely. “Please come as soon as you can,” he wrote.
Technology engenders isolation. We shop on the internet and communicate by email and texting; machines answer our phones and spit out our money at ATMs. There’s not much eyeball-to-eyeball interaction. We become distant and detached.
Machines don’t give a rip about people: they don’t hug, empathize, or encourage.
There’s someone of your acquaintance who feels that no one cares about them; someone who feels isolated and unwanted; someone who’s not okay. Reach out.
Technology gives us the tools to communicate
with people, but not the heart to feel their hurt.