Article April 9, 2012 Issue

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Allison Demarkles

Texting was not my top choice for communication with my teenage daughter—it was thrust upon me. I used to reason that effective communication needs eye contact, or at least voice contact, to hear feelings and motives. But I’ve since come to appreciate texting, and I’ve seen how spiritual thinking can have a place in this method of communication.

One evening last year, while waiting for my son’s band concert to begin at school, I asked my daughter via text if she and her friend would come. She declined.

My first thought was, “Oh well, I should have let her know sooner.” But then as I considered her absence all day, I decided that her decision was selfish. Our family had been through many hardships at the time, and we all needed support. She had spent all day with her friend. In fact, I ruminated, she always made time for friends, but rarely for us.