Close Encounters

I have often thought how remarkable it is that in a city of four million people, I routinely cross paths with people I know.

About a week ago I ran into a friend at Target. Perhaps that isn't so unusual. She and I live in the same part of town, so it's natural that we'd shop at the same area stores.

Yesterday I was driving down Westheimer and passed by a bad wreck. There were firetrucks and police cars on the scene and traffic was badly congested. It turns out the person in that wreck is a friend of mine. I drove right by her and didn't know about it until afterward.

Last night I met a girl who is a missionary in Kazakhstan. I told her that I have a good friend who did mission work there. He used to go to my church, but now attends another church in the city. Then I walked into the sanctuary only to discover that friend at the end of my pew. I was able to introduce him to the Kazakh missionary and they discovered they have mutual friends on the mission field.

Today I was driving to work and a suburban pulled alongside me and the driver starting honking. I glanced over to see what was wrong and there was one of my buddies from church smiling and waving at me through his window.

Disney was right. It really is a small world, after all.