Encounter

 

One of the great pictures we have of Jesus in the gospels is that of him encountering so many people on his travels and engaging with a significant number one to one. My favourite account is of him meeting up with the Syrophoenician woman who, through their conversation, seems to change his mind.

A characteristic of living in a Liberal Democracy like ours is that everyone seems to have an opinion about everything, and many are not shy in sharing theirs!

Within seconds of browsing the internet anyone can read a thousand and one opinions on everything from the conflict between Hamas and Israel to whether or not different Churches offer to bless or marry same-sex couples.

By and large I’m grateful for the majority of these internet articles and the insights they offer.

However, there is a particular perspective I value more than any other and that is encounter. 

For example, I’m aware that all the views I hold, and most of what I read about, regarding the current crisis in the Middle East are essentially theoretical views rather than personal experiences.  Yet, if I actually lived there, or even if I knew someone who did, I know these theoretical views of mine would be challenged.

The same has been true for many of us in church life when it comes to issues such as women’s ministry or same-sex marriage.  My views on these issues have been formed mostly, I think, not through what I’ve read, but rather by the people I’ve met. Encounter is wonderfully powerful and definitive and, I believe, that’s how it should be.

My hope and prayer is that in meeting another person the space between us might be occupied by God.  A space that makes all the difference in the way we encounter each other in our lives.