Missed Connections



There is a section of the popular website Craigslist that brings me great joy to browse from time to time. It’s called missed connections. The idea is that two strangers meet somewhere in the world, even if only for a second or two, and at least one person falls in love but fails to act before the encounter is over. So this person, in what must be a totally desperate attempt to right the wrongs of the moment, takes to Craigslist to write the story of their connection, in the hopes that the other person will stumble upon their writing and a connection will be made. Some of them get really, really funny.

Here’s one from today:

highly doubtful that you will ever see this. but i meet you when i bought a dogg off of you almost 2years ago we hung out a few times and tonight i gave you a ride from work.

(Oh yeah…some of the spelling is incredible)

We used to talk almost everyday. Then things happen and we lost touch. I don't think you will see this but I'm still going to try. Your name begins with C.

(This guy was fortunate enough to narrow his search down to women whose name begin with a C…that ought to help.)

We talked while getting gas at get go around 4 or so. I should have asked you for your number, but you were so pretty I got shy. Email me, I know it's a long shoot.

(Who among us hasn’t known the romance of the gas station)

Again, some of these are funny, but also kind of sad. I don’t know what the success rate for these “missed connections” actually is, but it can’t be above 10%, right? But there’s something about the moment, like fate brought people together, but somehow they blew it. These missed connections are an attempt at a do-over. An opportunity to outsmart fate or chance or predestination or whatever.

So this being a series about faith stories, here’s the question to ponder today: How many missed connections do you experience with God? How many opportunities for actual encounters with the divine pass us by because we’re distracted with out own thing, or because we’re too scared to look, or our hearts leap up in our throat? Whatever the case may be, I know that all too often my own priorities and agendas get in the way of me seeing what God is up to.

I often notice this when I ride my bike. When I’m in the car, I don’t tend to notice really much of anything but the traffic in front of me. When I’m on the bike though, I see things I don’t usually see. I have conversations with the groundhogs on the side of the road, begging them not to run under my wheels. I smell the pile of Christmas trees we threw away a few months ago. I see God at work in more ways when I am focused.

So here’s my argument for us today: Let’s have fewer missed connections with God. Let’s stay focused on the story in front of us. Let’s have our hearts and minds open to the ways God is acting in our lives, so that we can remember the stories.

Grace and peace,

J

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