Since I got back to Colombia in May, I’ve been having my lunch with my colleagues round the corner from the seminary where we have our office, with a lovely lady called Doña Patty.

The food is good and healthy but there is a lot of it and I suggested to Doña Patty that I might do without the soup. “Oh, you can’t have lunch without soup,” said Doña Patty. “Well, I just feel a little full,” I said. “No, it’s not lunch without soup. I’ll give you a small portion,” she replied. So that’s what happens.

But that’s not what I wanted to write about.

Some seminary students also have their lunch there. One day I arrived and found three seminary students waiting for their lunch, passing the time by staring, empty-faced, at their smartphones.

I often do this too; I’m not judging these students.

But in that moment I thought, “How lonely we all are, and how we feverishly seek connection.”

So since then, I have tried to be more open in all my real-world interactions and expect this connection that we all yearn for. And you know, since then, I’ve had three great encounters, two very short, one longer, in which people showed me their hearts and I came away blessed.

However useful our smart phones are, they will never replace that exciting moment when we look into someone’s eyes and see their souls.