I turned up a few minutes early and just about found somewhere to park. I walked in and found that I shouldn't have bothered to bring a coat, it was far too warm. I went back to the car, dropped off my coat and returned into the main reception area. After waiting ages to be greeted I eventually got into the main area. Everyone else seemed to be with a partner or in a group. I knew no one!
I looked around for a place to sit, nothing! I looked around for a vaguely friend face, nothing. Even the children seemed to know what was going on, I stood on my own and played with my iPhone. I looked around wishing that I could see some bloke, a bit like me, that I could have a chat with. Two Billy No Mates who fate had brought together. I wouldn't try to start talking to a 'non bloke' person, that would be seen as chatting up at best or weird at worst. I hoped that the music would start so that I could at least look as if I was there for a reason. Then someone mentioned that it wasn't starting for half an hour!
Now, if you know me you will understand that I am an extrevert, I am normally happy to initiate conversations. But being in an unusual situation where everyone else seemed to be enjoying the company of friends and family made me unusually uncomfortable. Then I became religious; I am a Christian aren't I, God has a plan for me to be a blessing wherever I am. Surely there is someone in this busy congregation that needs some encouragement. I looked around, trying to see if anyone appeared to be, well ready for my pearls of wisdom. Nothing.
Then I saw them, hallelujah God is here! Two friends drove past, parked up and came up and joined me. I was saved, or safe, no longer alone!
This event could have been a church meeting but wasn't. It was a pub and I was there to listen to a friend's son playing with his band. However it reminded me how difficult in can be for visitors to feel at home in our gatherings. Is it right to expect people to cross a large cultural divide? What can be normal for us can seem like a different world to them. We forget that the average person has no idea what the average church meeting is like.
Surely, like Jesus in the incarnation, it is us who need to cross the divide. To join others in their space rather than think they have to come into ours
