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In All Reality, You Just Can’t Force Friendship
The ones who truly matter are the ones who make a positive impact in our lives, lift our spirits, and remain in our hearts forever
As I was on line for 4pm church service in the center of Manhattan, right in the heart of Times Square, one of the church volunteers who was managing the crowd said to everyone, “Please move up and make room, guys. And mingle! Please mingle!”
In my head, I slightly scoffed — Ironically so, given the fact that I was waiting in line for church, where we’re all supposed to be fundamentally kind to everyone. I scoffed because even though I was surrounded by a mass of people who were just like me, who were similarly waiting to enter a place of worship, we still didn’t want to intermingle or start a conversation with a complete stranger out of thin air.
Yes, we’re Christians, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that we all wanted to become best friends with each other. Although, I don’t think that’s what the volunteer who was managing the line intended by saying, “Please mingle.” I think she just genuinely wanted us to converse with one another.
However, giving that friendly nudge to take on the daunting task of creating small talk doesn’t always make people any less reluctant to…