"'How are you' is not a question, it's a greeting."
When you chat to someone, in person or over technology, do you start the conversation with 'Hey! How are you?' or something along those lines? I know I often do.
A slightly deeper question... When you ask someone how they are, do you honestly care about their answer? I think that it happens a lot, more than it should, that we show interest in a person by sounding like we care but when it comes down to it our question of 'How are you' is used like the quote at the start of this post suggests, as just a mere greeting.
This habit we've gotten into hasn't been helped by our answer to the question either. If someone asks how we are, we don't often respond with the truth. Or the truth in full.
Not too long ago, I was walking along beside someone and we started talking, she asked me how I'd been. I debated just saying, "Yeah fine thanks! How about you?" But actually, I was going through a pretty difficult time. I think we sometimes avoid telling the reality of things to people because we don't really know if they care or not. Whether it's just a question to fill the silence, or if they genuinely want to know how you've been. Well, either way, that particular time I was open about not being in the best place with things and shared the real stuff.
A few weeks after that I was talking to this person on Facebook (as ya do these days..) and part way into our conversation she asked me, "How are you doing with everything, girl?" I was really touched by this because I could tell by the way she put the question, that she truly DID care. She'd remembered what I'd shared with her and was checking up on how I was doing with it all.
That really meant a lot to me, and has inspired me to look deeper into people. It's too easy to show fake concern. To ask about how a person is, but then not give them a second thought. This needs to change. Just take a minute to think,
A few weeks after that I was talking to this person on Facebook (as ya do these days..) and part way into our conversation she asked me, "How are you doing with everything, girl?" I was really touched by this because I could tell by the way she put the question, that she truly DID care. She'd remembered what I'd shared with her and was checking up on how I was doing with it all.
That really meant a lot to me, and has inspired me to look deeper into people. It's too easy to show fake concern. To ask about how a person is, but then not give them a second thought. This needs to change. Just take a minute to think,
What would the world be like if we had genuine love and care for the people around us?
'Let us be concerned for one another,
to help one another to show love and to do good.'
~Hebrews 10:24
