John
4:27New
International Version
(NIV)
27 Just then his disciples
returned and were surprised to find him talking with a woman. But no one
asked, “What do you want?” or “Why are you talking with her?”
Recently, at the delightful reception of a beautiful
wedding, eight of us were sitting at a table where 6 of us were more or less
closely related. The other two were total strangers. For some reason I
personally feel uncomfortable ignoring the presence of someone who is in close
proximity to me. I guess that in the past I have been snubbed enough times to
not like the feeling.
Introducing myself, I asked the couple their names. They
told me. Over the next half hour I found out they live in Riverside, where I
live. Riverside has close to a half-million people, so it’s no surprise that we
didn’t know each other. They’re happily married after some thirty years. They
have a 24 year old daughter who might be getting married one of these days and
two teenage sons.
They’re hoping to move north and live within 30 miles of the
Canadian border once they both retire. Naturally, their children do not share
their joy in living in the wilderness. “What are you going to do for fun, Dad?”
The couple loves the out of doors, especially hiking, an interest we share
enthusiastically. We spoke of places near Riverside that we enjoy visiting.
When we parted at the end of the evening, we hugged each other as though we had
been long time friends.
Later I couldn’t help thinking of how I had come from being a
dedicated nerd and introvert to the point where I could talk to people like
these. Many years ago a long time friend introduced us to Amway. I worked Amway
hard and lost money consistently. It just wasn’t my kind of life. But I learned
one thing from these zealots. They encouraged me to “FORM” strangers. This is
an acronym of a way to get others talking, so I don’t have to, and make friends
in the process. Ask the new acquaintance about these:
F their Family;
O their Occupation;
R their Recreation;
M then present your
Message.
I was encouraged to listen closely and, as soon as possible,
try to write down names and important points for later reference. Although I
never sold a box of soap (Amway), I found this FORM acronym of great help whenever
I found myself sitting uncomfortably next to someone I didn’t know.
Try it on someone you’re sitting next to on a plane or
standing next to in an interminable line. It is absolutely amazing what you’ll
learn. Usually the former stranger parts from you thinking about what an
interesting conversationalist you are because you let them do all the talking.
Lord, thank You for an
easy way to talk to strangers, like You did with the Samaritan woman. And give me
wisdom to weave Your message of love into the conversation.
[i] http://infed.org/mobi/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/conversation_jason_schukltz_cc_by_nc_2_flickr_jdawg_484678361.jpg
