“We need to talk.”
Those are four of my least favorite words in the English language.
Nothing good rarely follows those four words.
When Greedo needed to talk to Han he ended up dead.
When Gandalf needed to talk to Frodo the world almost ended.
When Picard needed to talk to Kirk it’s because Kirk was trapped in a trans-dimensional dreamland.
Whenever anyone says those four words to me, “We need to talk,” I always assume the worst. As soon as I hear those words my mind immediately starts spinning out of control. I start imagining every single possible reason for the conversation and things go south in my brain very quickly.
Usually I think someone’s going to tell me they’re pregnant or have gotten someone pregnant.
Sometimes I think someone’s going to tell me how awful I am and that they don’t love Jesus anymore because of me.
Twice I thought someone was going to break up with me and she did.
I hate those words so much that even their mention can ruin my day and keep me up all night. I had someone text me those words on Saturday afternoon. All Saturday evening I couldn’t stop thinking about the upcoming conversation. That night as I slept, I kept waking up and immediately thought about the conversation.
One of my favorite verses comes out of Philippians 4. It says:
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Even though I have that verse memorized I was having a hard time applying it to my life. I tried not worrying. I tried praying. I wanted peace that transcends understanding to pour out onto my life. In the end, though, I didn’t find much peace so I didn’t find much sleep.
I ended up having the conversation and it wasn’t bad at all. And, even if it had been horrible, I know that God would have given me the insight and wisdom needed to address the situation. Even though I know that, I still can’t keep from worrying when I hear those four words.
God’s peace is much bigger than those four words or anything else. We just need to try and see that.
How do you respond to those four words?
What a great reflection! You’re right: it is a shame that what should be four very welcome words, given the way we are so often isolated from each other, should be almost inevitably head as a warning. (I guess that’s precisely *because* we don’t talk to each other enough.)
Reading your remarks here on the cusp of Christmas makes me think of John 1: “In the beginning was the Word… and the Word was God… and the Word became flesh…” God speaks most fully in Jesus of Nazareth. The Incarnation is God’s way of saying, “We need to talk”!