Jumping back in with both feet

Drove home today for hours and hours. Did 3 visits in 2 different regional hospitals, talked to DS, ate supper with Ben, still have not been home. But I'll get there. Just talked to some poor soul from the church who somehow missed the announcement about Bobbi. She asked how she was doing...hard to answer. And I handled it really badly, or at least clumsily.
So there's no real mess to clean up from the storm, or at least there won't be until my freshly bathed WonderMutt is ready for bed. The yard was flooded yesterday; there is an old streambed across the back and the ditch across the front stays wet because of a water main leak that the city has been promising to fix for months. That and 7 inches of rain in about 3 hours adds up to some minor flooding in any big storm.
Tomorrow is my first "synchronous chat": where my DMin group will all be online together with the professor. I'm looking forward to it, although this week has been so hectic that I haven't really done the reading. If I ever get off the computer, I will though. I was reading the discussion board and found a conversation about how we isolate ourselves from physical contact with people in favor of internet/texting, etc. Kind of like blogging, I guess. Anyway, I stumbled on something good in my response:

I think we're made for that kind of contact...having flesh and bone people around us. I am concerned that the detachment involved in these internet relationships leads to a kind of false intimacy that results in our losing our sense of self. It reminds me of one of those old tired stories that go around about the little girl who was afraid of the dark. Her mother reminded her that Jesus is always with her, so when she felt afraid, she could remember that Jesus was right there beside her. Her response: "Yes, but I like Jesus with the skin on."

There's something affirming about having someone with skin on to reflect grace, mercy, comfort to us when we need it...or just to help us back up when we've fallen down the stairs. Perhaps that's an important role for the church: to help people form relationships with one another in person...incarnate...