After reading Angie's post about her nephew yesterday, I had to step back and take a few minutes to be quiet. Feeling a little like I had been blindsighted, I gathered myself, and just sat in silence. No prayers, just a time to just be. Later when I composed myself, I went back to the duties of the day and marched ahead.
Later, I was checking in with Matt to see how he and Madeliene were doing and remembered about his stranger withtheline thru it and friend sentence that he uses. So many people have responded to he and Madeleine's Story with packages of gifts and love and he uses the stranger/friend analog which I am utterly captivated by.
Isn't that the way we see people? In the last few weeks, we have been replacing all our appliances and having our air ducts cleaned so I have had a steady supply of delivery and furnace cleaning men coming and going. Maybe because they spent lots of their time being around women, most have been comfortable talking about everything under the sun. We have talked about single dads raising kids, the level pay of utilities and how much better food taste when it is homemade. You can't help but go from stranger - friend in less than 60 seconds.
It is too great of an analog to let it stop there. Where else in my life could this have practical application?
reject - accept
bind - loose
essential - unnecessary
me - you
We each have Something to share with each other. Each of our ways is different. While we may not have experienced the same paths, we most certainly can walk next to each other, listening really, really well or offering a shoulder to cry on. Matt is slowly finding his Way and I can't compare my Way to his but I can learn from him. I already have...
