Who Are You Talking To?

Our house just got a phone call from someone who was trying to get a hold of Dad. Something about a telescope. The thing is that Dad no longer lives at this house, so I picked up the phone and told whoever-it-was a number at which Dad could be reached. Then the person on the other end of the line said something to the effect of "I know Glen has any interest in astronomy. Do you?" I assumed it was a telemarketer, and I almost said "No, I'm not interested," and abruptly hung up, but now I am very glad I didn't do that. I did answer no, but I did so politely, and the conversation carried on for a few more seconds before the caller hung up to go call my Dad. When I went to erase the message on the answering machine, I let the message play to the point where I picked up the phone, and the caller immediately identified himself as my home teacher.

What struck me most about that revelation, beside the fact that people sound VERY different on the telephone than they do in person, was that I was very glad that I hadn't been as rude as I might have been to a person assumed to be a telemarketer. Can you imagine how embarrassing that would have been the next time I saw him at church? Thank goodness Mom raised me to be polite!

And why shouldn't we be? Let's imagine that it was a telemarketer, someone I had never met before. I'm sure a little kindness would have brightened their day. And if we ever met later, I would have been much happier knowing that our first conversation had been a pleasant one, even if it was decidedly brief. And while there's very little chance of meeting a random "stranger," and recognizing each other later in life, I believe there's a much larger chance of meeting and recognizing a great number of people after life. Old friends, distant relatives, casual acquaintances, people we had only bumped into once, and many more people will be waiting on the other side, and I'd be surprised if we all didn't have the chance to talk to each other again. I think on that day, I'd rather be thanked for being courteous than be prompted to apologize for unkind words.

I suppose that there really are no strangers. We're all brothers and sisters, in a sense, and some of them we may also become friends with later on in life. We know that we'll be judged for everything we do, and everything we say, even to strangers. In fact, writing about this, I'm reminded about a scripture in Matthew, "When saw we thee a stranger?" I'm sure you know it. (Matt. 25: 38, and the surrounding verses)

The moral of the story is to be polite to everybody, and this morning, I find myself very relieved that I was.