How to resolve AdBlock issue? 
Finding depth in connections
- Details
- Tuesday, 19 May 2026
- Written by Dan DeBruler
Relationships thrive in the deep. One key is to move beyond the shallow and into the kind of authenticity where you’re not always the hero of your own story.
That kind of depth doesn’t happen by accident. It happens in moments—often small, unguarded, and easily overlooked. Around a dinner table. On a front porch. In a circle of people sharing a meal, a story, or even just silence. Those moments have a way of changing people. They shape relationships, and over time, they shape culture.
Jesus seemed to understand that. Many of His most meaningful interactions didn’t happen from a stage or at a distance, but in close, personal settings—meals, conversations, shared space. There’s something about being face-to-face, without pretense, that invites honesty. And honesty is where real connection begins.
The problem is, those moments have been slowly disappearing.
Most of us can smile at the old lyric, “video killed the radio star,” because in many ways it rang true. Technology replaced something simpler, something more personal. I once heard someone make a similar observation: “Air conditioning killed the family.” It sounds strange at first, but the idea sticks. There was a time when people gathered outside in the evening—on porches, in yards—because it was cooler there. Families talked. Neighbors drifted over. Conversations unfolded naturally. And when we moved inside, into perfectly controlled environments, something shifted. We traded shared space for separate rooms.
And now, we’re here. More reachable, but less connected. Social media has given everyone a voice—not inherently bad—but it has also created a constant stream of noise. Opinions come fast, reactions come faster, and before long, we’re not really listening anymore. We’re just responding.
At the same time, there’s a tendency in all of us to look for something bigger, better, or more satisfying just over the horizon. We want the “promised land”—the ideal version of life, relationships, or success—while overlooking the “daily bread” already in front of us. The ordinary moments. The conversations we could have if we’d just slow down long enough to have them.
We also tend to lean on voices that tell us what we want to hear about the future—pundits, influencers, commentators—rather than grounding ourselves in what’s real and present. So we speculate rather than engage. Scroll rather than sit across from someone and be known.
Depth requires something different.
It requires presence. It requires listening. It requires the humility to step into a conversation without needing to win it—or to be seen as the hero in it.
If relationships really do thrive in the deep, then maybe the way forward isn’t more noise, more speed, or more distance. Maybe it’s a return to the table. A return to shared space. A return to conversations where people are seen, heard, and known—not for their best moments, but for who they really are.
That’s where connection lives. And it’s still available—if we’re willing to choose it.
