I discovered again this week that we are never far from people we know.

We can have friends and acquaintances who we once saw on a regular basis and who were part of our world, but when we move or they move, our worlds change. New friends or acquaintances come into our lives and fill them up. We tend to be engaged with the people who are right around us.

It is very much like leaving one world and entering another. We have new scenery, new people and new experiences with those people.

It’s almost like the original Star Trek television series – well, minus Captain Kirk and the Klingons. They had a five year mission to explore new worlds. 

When we move or change our setting, we end up exploring a new world. 

When you travel to a different country, there are sights you’ve never seen before, different people, customs and languages. It’s like a new world. You may have heard of that world before, but when you travel there you get a new perspective of that land and those people. 

I remember traveling to Israel eleven years ago. Though I had never been there before, I had read through the Bible many times and had an idea of what the land was like. 

I was shocked at how my perception of the country was different from actually being there. My world collided with the world of the Bible and I came away with a new, richer understanding of that land.

When the world we are in is different from the world we have left or are going to, sometimes those worlds collide for a short time. 

This week Lily and I took a trip to Vancouver on the other side of the country from us. It was a new world in a lot of ways.

The scenery is so different from home. Though the people speak the same language, in a way there is a difference that is hard to pinpoint. 

Though we were there in that other world for a short time, our two worlds collided in an interesting way. 

Each day of our trip we had the opportunity to collide with old friends and acquaintances. 

One day it was an old high school friend of mine … and when I say old, having looked afterwards at the pictures, yes, we are getting old. 

Another day we met with a mentor couple of Lily’s and mine. What was interesting was, though we are regularly mentored by them, it was the first time Lily and I together had been in their presence. 

The next day we met with my uncle, aunt and cousins. On our last day, we met up with some friends from our years in Edmonton. 

Each time our world collided with their world. And it is those collisions that keep us connected even though our worlds are so far apart. 

You really can’t go anywhere without finding someone from a world you once were part of. 

Here’s the thing: It always astounds me that wherever I go there is some kind of connection to my present or my past. It shouldn’t astound us then that no matter where we go or where we are, God is always there. We can never move away from Him, never go to another world. God is always part of our present; He is always part of home. Run to Him and maintain that connection. 

That’s Life!

Paul

Question: What kind of connection have you recently made? Leave your comments and questions below.

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