Meeting people

I would describe myself as an introvert. That might surprise many, because given the right situation, I am anything but. I am well aware that I often seem comfortable under the spotlight and am willing to embarrass myself more than an introvert might. But I still maintain that given the choice, I lean towards keeping to myself.

In general, I dislike meeting groups of strangers. I dislike not knowing anyone at a party. I dislike having to speak to several people at once (i.e. a group sitting around a bar having a drink). That's not to say that I'll never do it, of course.

But the corollary is that I quite enjoy meeting new people, individually. And interestingly, this is something I've only recently discovered. Everyone has a story to share, and when I put my selfish self aside and actually open my ears - what a privilege it is to enter someone else's world.

The last new person I met was at a combined lunch held for the staff at Northside Christian College and Nexus Church. She was a past student of Northside and graduated several years ago. This was her final year at her course in Uni and she decided to work part-time at the church as well. And boy did she have an interesting story.

After graduating from high school, she spent a year in East Timor with World Vision. She's also been to Uganda and PNG on mission/aid trips. Her eyes lit up every time I asked her to tell me more. I could tell she still remembers every one of her trips as if it were just yesterday. She had a passion to see communities redeemed and changed, but not just on individual levels.

"Mission organisations", she commented, "seem to either focus on converting individuals to Christianity or on just helping to establish infrastructure to support developing communities. Why can't they do both?"

"Building wells and schools, that does seem like it would go further", I cleverly added.

She paused. "Yes, but I believe that the only thing that will transform any life is Jesus."

This time I was quiet. She couldn't be more right.

In the conversation that ensues, I experience her contagious passion for reaching and redeeming people for Christ, not just their minds but their hearts and bodies too. She really cared for them. She had found the truth and had to share it, but was not content simply transmitting information. She also loved them enough to want to improve their quality of life now and give them paths forward for the future. And she was willing to sacrifice any of her comforts to achieve that. Such was the influence Christ had in her life.

Her story-telling eventually had to end; how I wished it didn't have to. With a goodbye, I returned to my world, which looked a whole lot more plain all of a sudden. But the beautiful thing was, I had changed ever so slightly for having been in her world, even if only for a while. And that meant that my world would change too.

I wonder sometimes if this would be a part of what heaven will be like. A sharing, a celebration, a brilliant conglomeration of stories all wrapped up in that divine Story of creation, fall and now redemption full and complete. Perhaps even eternity won't be long enough for us to hear, really hear, everyone's stories. Stories of the Father's unchanging love through every trial, the grace of Christ redeeming every stain, the nudge of Spirit at every turn. Or perhaps heaven might indeed only be the start our stories, ala CS Lewis' Narnia, where all of life is but a cover page to the great story that will never end, in which each chapter is better than the one before.

In the meantime, I'm gonna continue stepping out of my shell and meeting new people. And who knows, just some of them might let me into their world, even if only for a moment.