The Longing for Human Connection

Brilliant author and thinker, Leonard Sweet, shares a remarkable story in his must-read book, “So Beautiful” on the longing for human connection.

“A missionary writes of a leading a mission trip to the South African country of Namibia. The first thing his team noticed in the local village in which they were staying was that women had to walk every day to a well with a huge heavy bucket on their heads to fetch water.

“We immediately decided to do something about it.” he said.

Within two weeks flashy new water pipes were delivering water to every little hut in the village.

Within a week after the installation of the plumbing, the villagers removed all the pipes and piled them politely on the outskirts of the village.

When the missionary asked why they had plundered the plumbing and undone all their hard work, the Namibians explained that it is customary for women to walk to a well with other women sharing their experiences about life. Carrying heavy buckets on the head while chatting with friends. “It’s not a bad thing, it’s a good thing.”

When the walk to the well was taken away and life was made “never so good,” life was really made ever so difficult.”

Never underestimate the power of relationships.  We’ll go to great lengths for them- even carry buckets of water on our heads.

We get this from God. After all, He is in relationship with himself as Father, Son, and Spirit. When He created humanity, He designed us for relationships- with Him and one another. It’s in the fabric of our being.

We were never meant to do life alone.