Whilst I have been busy since I stopped working I guess a
combination of feeling a little less task orientated as well as travelling
round and interacting with more people who at least on the surface probably
feel we have some similarities means I have found myself in short conversations
with strangers which are more than the functional exchanges that normally fill
our lives.
I guess it has helped that I have been doing more travelling
on public transport as well as the fact of hosting the Olympics and Paralympics
in London this year has seemed to grant a space in which all of a sudden there
is a mood to cross the normal British reserve to the stranger and a subject
with which we can initiate a conversation. However I have been blessed by a
number of exchanges chatting about the Olympics or children or recommendations
about travel bags with people with whom I never even exchanged names. I have
even occassionaly managed to get someone to talk to me on the tube! It has been
wonderful to have these moments of shared humanity with people whom I almost
certainly will not meet again, even sometimes just to sit in public spaces and
look around and realise that all those I see around me are all made in the
image of God and if only I am attentive enough and willing to reach out of my
protective shell show me something of the glory of God.
I am reminded of how I used to walk through my home town
with my mum as a teenager and she'd greet people who I didn't know. I would ask
her who the other person was and she would reply telling me she's met them in
the queue at a shop and knew lots about their holiday or child going to
university or any such thing, but of course in most cases she had no idea what
their name was. This summer I caught myself wondering if I was turning into my
mum, despite how I teased her many years ago! And actually it seems a good way
to be. I've been surprised at the number of positive responses I've got when I
take the first step.
This week I was talking with a good friend who said he tries
to engage with strangers in public space from time to time but how hard it is.
I did wonder if his being male and being of a minority race in the UK made it
harder as we wrap ourselves in a fear of the stranger.
So if you are above the age of 18 why not try talking to a
stranger this week and get a brief glimpse of another face of God.
