By T.J. Ray
Columnist
Yesterday with a handshake I met a fellow I didn’t know. All the information I had about him
was the town he lived in and that he liked cameras. Our only contact till then had been digital.
Email doesn’t reveal much about the sender or receiver. At least with old telephones we had
the sound of voices, which often set the tone and volume of a call.
How Don and I met exposes a myriad of things about the small piece of earth where I live.
Neither had to pull out a driver’s license. Neither of us had any concern that the other guy might
have a hidden weapon. And even with long lenses, our cameras posed no threat.
The next time you meet a stranger, give some thought to the event—for the event it is. A
new connection of two individuals with no predisposition to treat him or her in a particular
manner. (Perhaps I should have written that “her or him” for my acquaintances who are
squeamish about such details of language.)
We rode up and down the roads at Sardis Reservoir for almost four hours, getting in and out of
our cars when we saw a likely bird nook. The great find of the day was a huge eagle’s nest. We
had been looking up at it for ten minutes or so when a rustle in the nest announced someone
was home. Sure enough, a beautiful female came up and made a loop or two around the
immediate area, checking us out. After she had landed her smaller mate followed suit.
How amazing it is that we live in this tiny segment of the world, freely able to meet a
stranger and share good moments with him. Not long ago, someone sent me a wonderful
piece of writing. Its author was that brilliant poet Unknown Author.

“You and I — we meet as strangers, each carrying a mystery within us. I cannot say who you
are. I may never know you completely. But I trust that you are a person in your own right,

possessed of a beauty and value that are the Earth’s richest treasures. So I make this promise
to you: I will impose no identities on you, but will invite you to become yourself without shame
or fear. I will hold open a space for you in the world and allow your right to fill it with authentic
vocation and purpose. For as long as your search takes, you have my loyalty.”

The other day a friend sent me a sort of poem by Marily Kem-Foxworth. Here are its words:
“I have always liked M&M’s — the most diverse, multicultural, integrated candy in the world.
You have your red ones, your brown ones, your yellow ones, your orange ones, your blue
ones, and your green ones. M&M’s melted our prejudices into the abyss. And all the people
were judged by what was inside rather than the color you see on the outside.”
That leaves me speechless but for one final word – Amen!