On Friday night my husband and I had supper with a group of people that are somewhere in that funny space between acquaintances and maybe-one-day friends – mostly all people that we’ve met at church over the last few months. Yesterday, as I went running (great time for thinking!!) I thought about the little connections that we have with people, of which I had a couple of examples on Friday. Little connections like common likes or dislikes, or common personality traits or characteristics. On Friday, one little connection I shared with someone was taking a little peak at the end of books – just to see where I’m headed. Another was a love of books in general (that one was shared by a number of people). Another little connection was a little partiality for chocolate spread such that one might start out being very good and only having it on bread or toast (that lasts for about a day or two, if I’m lucky) and then suddenly be overtaken with a desire for much more of the creamy badness goodness. On its own – delicious spoonful and after spoonful straight from the jar. And before you know it, the ‘only one mouthful’ is half the jar.
To make little connections with other people, to built bridges and relationships, you’ve got to be open to others – often near-strangers – about your own little quirks, and that can be quite scary. But it can also be fun. You might feel you’ve found a kindred in a sea of not-very-well-known. You might feel that you’re not the only slightly strange one. You might even make a friend. What little connections have you had with new people lately?
