Passing through each others lives.....

Its amazing how we pass through each other’s lives. Friends, strangers, all part of the big old world. Walking across this particular part of our world has been such an amazing thing. Ive met people Ill never meet again. Laughed with them, talked politics and religion with them, dined with them, been questioned by them, been amazed by them , been afraid of a couple of them, watched silently as some of them go about their business, and much more.
Today, leaving Pratt, I saw two women sitting under a carport type structure next to a house on the outskirts of Pratt. When the sidewalk ended on the side of the road that I was on, I crossed to their side where the sidewalk continued. With a simple question, “What kind of city stops a sidewalk all of a sudden?” and a laugh, I was invited to sit with them for a few minutes. Deb and Julliane were their names, lovely ladies with a great shared sense of humor. Julliane even tried to call the local paper to see if they were interested in a story about a guy walking across the country for charity but the paper was fresh out of reporters and I had to move on anyway.
Later, as I walked on, I saw a woman riding a big lawnmower near some silos or grain storage tanks, mowing away. She looked at me and flashed me a big wave and went about her business. I waved back and kept on my way, occasionally glancing at her to see if she was looking back. She wasn’t. Later even than that I walked past a house near the road. I saw a man watering his plants with a cute old sprinkling can. His dog and cart were playing with each other, like a scene from a Rockwell painting. He watered away as I walked by, oblivious to my presence. I completely walked past and out of his neighborhood and I don’t think he even knew I was there, so into his chores was he.
Bill McKenzie, Shelby Monjure, and so many others that I have encountered, Caleb Gosa, Brandi Nettles, Sarah Shimrill Ray, and the list goes on and on. We passed through each others lives, here on this big ball of dirt and rock. We may never meet again but at least we did meet. And that is a very good thing.
And just this night I met Ryan Kendall. He owns the Origins Coffee Shop here in Haviland, Kansas. Hes been to Africa too, and knows well the plight of the hungry there. He sat down and we had a nice talk about things, my walk, Africa, the college here in town, and then he went back to work. Life goes on, and we go about our business, and if we are lucky we pass through each others lives often.
Ive been so lucky to know and meet so many people in my life. May it always be thus.