Socialize with compassion, kindness and grace

That little bit of wisdom was gleaned from my Yogi tea bag at dinner last night. I ate at a great noodle house, Doc Chey's, and had a very refreshing pot of Kyoto mint green tea over ice. I love the South and am quite used to the heat and humidity but long for something rather than ice water every now and then, so I took the plunge and tried their tea. It was delicious: cold, minty and refreshing and really hit the spot. Doc's has many yummy vegetarian and vegan dishes. I ordered the peanut noodle bowl which is a dish chocked full of fresh veggies, cold noodles, salad greens, sprouts, fried tofu cubes, crushed peanuts covered in a light peanut sauce. I give this dish a big thumbs up! YUM! I didn't take my camera with me or else I would have a beautiful picture of that scrumptious meal. That means I'll have to go again so you can see what you're missin'! ;-)

That little tea bag got me to thinkin' and I wondered if I do socialize with compassion, kindness and grace.....okay, the answer is yes, but not as much as I should. I was talking with one of my best friends Sunday night, who lives in the lovely state of Alaska, and we were discussing how isolating graduate school can be and how much the "scholarly life" (written without pretentiousness, I swear!) can isolate us from healthy human contact. Since returning to the U.S. from living in East Asia a few years back, I have found that while I love my country, we are an alienated people at times. Technology is great, but on campus most of us run around with our ipods and mp3 players stuffed in our ears and rarely speak to another human being . I am as guilty as the next person. I knew I had hit a new low however, when I found myself irritated when people would try to speak to me on campus or the bus and I just wanted to float away on my music. Interrupt the new Keane album? Fuhgeddaboudit!

I was convicted about this in prayer one day and decided: no more earbuds when I am on the bus and definitely not when I am on the bike. Now, when people speak to me, friends yell 'hi' and want to talk, I am happy to do so rather than feeling internally piqued that I have to shut off a song I have heard a million times. I have had at least three wonderful conversations about God, Christ, and spiritual struggles due to this one simple act and I'm glad I did it.