Not long ago a woman complained to me that when her husband came home he always greeted the dog first and then came and found her. But I asked, “Doesn’t the dog run to the door and wait when she hears the car pull into the drive?” “Well, yes,” she answered. “Sooooo?,” I answered. I was reminded of a church member who most always came to church after the worship service started and left during the closing hymn. They complained to me that the church was unfriendly and no one ever talked to them.
Emily Dickinson once wrote, “This is my letter to the world that never wrote to me.” She got it. If one is to have friends one must often take the initiative. This evening I made three attempts to introduce myself to a church member only to have her turn and walk away from me. I had been standing quietly in her vision range waiting. I will try again.
Solomon said it in Proverbs 18:24, “A man who has friends must himself be friendly.” However, we do understand that some people are shy. We need to seek them out. In Romans 12:16 Paul admonishes us to make friends with nobodies. It isn’t natural to do that. We want to seek out the somebodies. However, somebodies rarely need us. It is the nobodies who most often really need us. Life can be brutal and demolish people’s self worth to the extent they just don’t have the courage to speak to someone new. That is where we come in. Sometimes an extended hand is all it takes to change a life.
Written by Roger Bothwell on July 16, 2008.
Photograph by Johannes Plenio.
Spring of Life Ministry, PO Box 124, St. Helena, CA 94574