I have several loquacious friends — that’s a fifty-dollar word which means they surely do talk a lot. But I love being in their company. They are smart, talk easily — and a handful speak absolute genuine “Southern” which endears them to me. I do not enjoy being around people who yack aimlessly or are negative. Good conversation is nourishing for the soul.
“We need to talk,” can have different meanings, often depending on who says it. A friend on Facebook may say it because conversation in print can be like a bucket of bolts. It may be weighty, even useful, but lacks the texture and tenor of the spoken word. Spoken in a negative sense, it could portend unwelcome news from your boss or worse, your spouse.
I had a deaf friend who could not speak; he could utter meaningful sounds. We enhanced our conversations with hand signals (neither of us knew American Sign Language). When all else failed, he would write the word. A big smile let me know when WE understood. I usually stopped at his gas station on my trips home from college.
I always looked forward to our conversations. Our friendship depended on our attention to each other, not words not spoken. I considered our visits “our time to talk.” Looking back, I am glad I never rushed our visits. We just needed time to “talk.”
Many years ago, I learned the importance of our need to talk — to really talk. A medical article, circa 1981, reported that in times of crisis, some families fall apart. Yet, in other families in similar circumstances, the family members grow more closely knit. As it turns out, families that fell apart tended to silo, shut down, or cease talking altogether with each other.
Families that grew closer, weathering the crisis successfully, tended to talk. They talked — freely — with each other. Talking is a therapeutic means of easing anxiety and tension. They spoke of hope, often when there appeared to be little hope. Talking helped them maintain their connections, including each other’s feelings. Talking provided clues to their needs, opening windows for clarity and succor.
Jesus talked in parables. Sometimes, his followers did not understand, so he talked to them in detail. One such event was their questions about the Sower. He listened to them, then spoke with them, offering clarity.
©Copyright Willis H. Moore 2025
Very good. We all need conversations