Hineni ~ Single Serving Friendships

Greetings Dear Reader,

Yesterday morning as I was nursing my first cup of coffee at my Our-for-Friday-Breakfast diner a priest came in the door. No, this is not the start of a joke.  He obviously did not know that he could sit wherever he wished so I informed him.  To my surprise he asked if he should sit at a table or by the window.  I suggested that since it is not cold yet it could be nice to sit by the window.  He did.

He opined that I must be a regular at the diner.  My favorite waitress in the world confirmed that I have been coming in for fifteen years.  What ensued was a brief but deep conversation about the very topic of presence and availability.  He asked why I came every Friday.  I explained that it was a discipline to keep me from being too much a workaholic.  I also ventured that I post that I am doing this so that those who wish to can join me. 

Father Randy was awaiting someone so we stood there talking until his guest arrived.  These moments only occur when we are present and available.  They only work when we are open to single serving friendships.  I think that this is something we must master to be truly available to others.  All of my Children are excellent at it.

I realize that some of you Dear Reader have challenges like social anxiety that hinder this.  Do the best you can and leave the rest to us irritating extroverts.  We will cause enough trouble in this area to compensate for you. 

The long and the short of it is that as we move through the world, the day, or the moment we must available and present.  We must be in the moment with those who venture a smile, a question, or a word.  We lose nothing from being kind and welcoming. 

I was told by a grocery clerk that I was her favorite customer.  When I asked why she said that I always really interact with her when I come through her line.  I am grateful for her noticing but it disturbs me that this is not the normal course of her day.  Everyone is on a journey through the day and we must be a people that make encounters with us an oasis in that day. 

I must be present and available.  Humans are what we are about.  It is the Father’s purpose for all of this, that we love each other.  Besides that, we get to improve a life if even for a moment.  That is something indeed. 

Wishing you joy in the journey,

Aramis Thorn

Mat 13:52 So Jesus said to them, "That is why every writer who has become a disciple of Christ’s rule of the universe is like a home owner. He liberally hands out new and old things from his great treasure store.”

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