It was the last morning of the 4 day conference. Someone among us had asked for our prayers. We sat around the room,heads bowed, and prayed for an "unknown friend".
Through the corner of my eye, I watched my neighbor,sitting with closed eyes and rapt face. I had winced, thinking,this one is a wet blanket.
Now I watched her with affection, for I had come to know her as a warm, delightful person. All around the room I could see others whom I had thought dull or antagonistic or shallow, until I came to know them. How well the phrase "unknown friend" described these people! I had thought I was meeting strangers, but I was really meeting friends, waiting to be known.
Twelve hours later, I stood in line to board a plane home. The young man in front of me stepped back and stumbled against my bag. He knocked it over. He muttered something under his breath. A sharp retort sprang to my mind, for I did not like his longhaired looks anyway. Then the thought came... maybe this is another...
