Interconnectedness

   My first thought when I wrote this word down was "is it a real word?", but there it was in the dictionary.

noun

1.

the quality or condition of being interconnected;

   Why did it come to mind?

   In the mailbox the other day was a magazine.

   But I need to digress for just a moment..

   Back in the early '90s, I spent some time in a Master's Program in Education at Covenant College located in Lookout Mountain, TN. Even though I was an "older" Student in the program, I count that time and that experience as one of the best in my life, and I look forward to keeping up with the school through its publications. The View is one of those.

   In my early morning time, I wanted to read the lead article, so I laid the magazine on my couch and looked forward to having quiet time to read and reflect on the author's message. Not because I was suffering, but just because I wanted to think about the topic.

   As I thumbed through the first few pages, moving toward the article, I noticed a short blurb referencing an address by Michael Gerson, given at the school. I recognized the name from a syndicated column that appears on occasion in our local paper. I read it from time to time and wondered what he was doing speaking at this Christian College.

   Gerson is a writer for the Washington Post, and a good one in my opinion, so I mused about his connection to the college.

   I also looked up his bio on Google, and, while browsing that, noticed a reference to Ron Fournier another name I knew. This man is also a writer, and I had seen him as a regular panelist on a news program. His comments on that panel seemed insightful,  and I began to read more about him.

   My  search led to a book Fournier had written back in 2010 about his son who was diagnosed with Aspergers autism when he was 12. The book was interesting to me, as we also have an autistic grandson over in Arkansas, and I got it for my Kindle.

   I immediately shot off a quick email to my son in law, and he replied that he had not read the book, but did read Fournier's column in The Atlantic, liked his style and the stories about his son.

   The book is: Love That Boy, What Two Presidents, Eight Road Trips and My Son Taught Me About Parental Expectations. A mouthful, but I'm enjoying the story.

   I was also curious to check out The Atlantic, a magazine I knew about but did not read, scanning a couple of articles there.

   From The View, to Michael Gerson, to Ron Fournier, to a book on autism, to an email from a son in law, to buying a book, to enjoying its story, to The Atlantic and some articles there on American politics, back to Gerson and his book on Religion and Politics in a New Era.

   A rabbit trail of reading, or an example of interconnectedness and a new word to use?

   Interesting, anyway...