One evening as I sat on a train with many other commuters I could not help but hear parts of a conversation near me between a man and a woman. After a while I glanced over and saw that she was a little older than the man. He was in military uniform of the day. They discussed work and world travels. Eventually he said something about running out of things to talk about with his wife. The lady, with a kind tone said something to the effect of, ‘‘Oh no, there’s always something to talk about.” She went on to share memories of overseas travels and memories of life with her deceased husband.

This conversation got me to thinking about basic communication in relationships. We can take turns. We can decide to turn our focus and attention toward the person we’re communicating with. We can intentionally share new information, updates on life happenings and emotions. I know the feelings thing is difficult for many of us, but with a little thinking we can identify and speak a few feeling words. We can remind ourselves to appreciate our spouses, children, friends, co-workers, etc. This means developing an attitude of appreciation and telling them about it. We may even ask them how we can demonstrate appreciation to them in a way that would hit the target with them.

This privilege of communication also rings to me of the relationship God offers to us. He loved us enough to send us his message of love. Christians see this in the living word Jesus as well as the written word of Scripture. This is where we listen to and really hear him. But we also have the great privilege to talk back to the Almighty. We can appreciate him, ask him questions and request his blessing and help. This is what we call prayer. What a privilege.

So whether we are married, single or single again, we have opportunities to help others communicate and to improve our own communication habits. This happens both on the human and divine level. What a privilege to communicate.