Encounter

I have no idea why I began to think a lot about this topic recently. Maybe because all I seem to do recently is meet new people. And as soon as I meet a new person as of late, the time I spend with them is over.

You know how it is… you go to dinner with a group of people coming because you were invited by one member of the group yet knowing no one else. Over the course of the meal you make small talk with people you are seated around. You find that with some conversation comes easier than with others. And if you hit the jackpot that night you find one person at the table that you really seem to connect with. Unstoppable conversation occurs. You envision this being the type of person you would call up on a random Saturday afternoon just to bum around Target with. Or, even better… could this be your long lost best friend? If only there was more time to find out. Because in fact, he or she is from Settle just visiting for the weekend. You will probably never see them again or the other six random folks at the table (who are actually from your same city). This was just a random moment in time for your path and theirs to cross… it was just one encounter. (And in keeping with the theme of this blog, I have no idea who is pictured to the right).

So if you are like me and loyalty and sustaining relationships are important to you, it would seem the whole idea of pouring yourself into one-time encounters would be no fun. Because it just seems like a lot of work to go to meet a total stranger and find some way to connect with them only to never see them again after an hour or less of conversation. What’s the point after all? Wouldn’t it just be better to stick with the one friend you came with who you know you’ll speak to tomorrow? Why be nice to strangers?

While it might be safer to not expend social energy on those in whom your interaction will seemingly not reap any “payback” in the future—there is just something missing from this picture. I think that if we don’t embrace the possibilities of an encounter, we miss out on an opportunity to truly be human. Isn’t there inherent goodness imbedded in the act of kindness to strangers?

This causes me to stop and think of times when I was welcomed by strangers who had no reason to be nice to me. Random friends of friends I have spent the night with when I needed somewhere to stay while traveling through their town. People that have given me directions when I have been desperately lost on my way to somewhere (happens frequently I might add). Or, a hospitable spirit at a party who introduces me to others people when I seemingly know no one in the room. These are all times when random encounters of people saved me from much social and emotional trauma.

So maybe while I’m sad sometimes that not every awesome person I meet gets to stay in my life forever, I am trying now to be grateful for the gift of encounter. One time only encounters help me understand the world from a perspective other than my own. They teach me to recognize the goodness of humanity that is so easily ignored when we define strangers by stereotypes. And, I am reminded that our human story is not always about relationships which follow us for 10 or 20 years. Sometimes people are brought into our life for a season of an hour or two or maybe even just a summer. When it is time for them to leave, it is good to say goodbye, goodnight, yet at the same time able to cherish the beauty in the encounter. Our lives are filled with such wonder day in and day out if we are willing to embrace it.