Conversation: Edification

My wife knows I can’t stay up late. Nine thirty, ten at the latest, is when my biology just shuts down. And that’s after a normal day. But I’m in New York; it’s anything but normal. I’m in high-level dialogue for hours on end with very smart people, in constant, deep interaction with very mature people of faith. It's demanding and exhausting. This forum ignite a dual response from me: introspection and giving, both of which express themselves through conversation. I encounter an idea, mull it over, and communicate it to my neighbor. The volley comes back from the hearer. Together, hand over hand, we climb the idea as it grows and changes.

It’s in the act of listening and talking, hearing others ideas and working out our own, that we are changed. I shared all my meals with strangers today. I drank my coffee and took my walks with folks I may never see again. In all of this, our shared experience, in addition to the amazing city space, was talking. I’m convinced that my conversations have been prime vehicles for edification and sanctification. It’s probably the only thing that will keep me actively engaged for seventeen hours straight. I stayed up past 11:00. High five.