You ever have one of those odd moments in your life that you almost wish never happened, but that you will never be able to forget?
Okay, okay, that’s a little ambiguous, but if you’ve had one, you know what I’m talking about. They’re a mix between deja vu and a fleeting glimpse of a future that could have been but slips through your hands.
I had a chance to meet three new people last night. One of them I had been talking to online for a while, and the other two were her family and friend. One had the potential for something more than friendship, the others were there to make the evening less awkward. I took a roadtrip to a different city this weekend at her invitiation to meet her face-to-face for the first time, and to hang out. Well, nothing more than friendship will ever transpire here, and that awkwardness that comes with meeting someone online has set in again. Things are really wierd now.
But the part of the experience that really blows me away is this:
I met three really awesome people yesterday! Artistic, passionate, talkative, real people. Nothing about them was fake. I had a glimpse into their world, and it was really touching. I may very well never see them or talk to them again on this side of Heaven. But the fact that they crossed my path for just one evening has affected my life in a very tangible way. It almost hurts that three potential friendships were jerked away, like the tablecloth being pulled from beneath the china. Well, it was pulled successfully, because I’m still intact. But, in whatever small way, I will never be the same because I met them. I saw something angelic in them, something that glimmers, that only comes in His image. I had a chance to attend a concert that was an amazing worship experience for me. I was touched last night.
This type of thing has happened to me before, with different twists. It’s just one of those moments in life that come from stepping over the edge and seeing if you can fly. Sometimes you glide for a while, and sometimes you crash, but you always come out better for trying. And the song that was playing on the radio at the time will forever be associated with that moment in your mind, so you know it was unforgettable blip on the radar of your life. But that’s okay. It came and it went, and it was supposed to be that way for whatever reason. We have to hold onto those evenings, those weekends, those experiences. They make us just a little bit better than we were before they happened.
If any of the three of you read this, I’m glad that our paths crossed, however briefly. I hope you are, as well.