Talking to Strangers

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.