Companions

A brief message today to remind us all not to overlook the people we meet on the way through our journey in life. As we rush from here to there we come in contact with countless folks who offer the chance to interact. Bus stops, plane flights, athletic events, even elevators offer opportunities to interact with our fellow travelers. Perhaps the elevator rides are a little short to strike up a relationship, but most other venues are simply bursting with possibility. We had a young man from New Zealand staying with us this past week and found it fascinating to develop a friendship with someone from another country who has different views and experience than us. I also had the opportunity so spend time with a young Muslim woman from Turkey recently. Each of these young people taught me something about myself, their own country and the larger world we live in. However, my time with both of them was the result of simply being available to others, letting our lives be accessible. You just never know who God might send your way at any given time and it behooves us to think of our fellow humans not as props in our own personal dramas, but as important players themselves. We are all part of something much larger than ourselves. So as you rush through your own days this week, I encourage you to be sensitive to the other lives which intersect with your own. Strike up a conversation in the line at the bank. Eat lunch with a stranger instead of sitting at separate tables. Let down the draw bridge in the wall you have built around your own life and welcome others into it. Maybe God sent some of those people just because they needed you ... or perhaps because you needed them. You’ll never know unless you look up, smile and offer your hand in friendship. That’s how it all begins.

Companions
The journey is never lonely
As I travel on my way
On every leg, at every port
I find new friends each day
Who share the same experience
Have seen and done the same as I
So we fall in together naturally
To wile the hours as they pass by
Rare the journey where a friend cannot
Be found along the trail
To share a meal, a walk, a game
An adventure or a sail
For there are folks most everywhere
Who’d gladly pass the time of day
Sometimes the best part of a journey
Is folks we meet along the way
By Frank Carpenter ©