Situation
On a somewhat frequent basis, UPS would swing by my place to deliver a package of vitamin and skin care products. Like the majority of UPS deliveries, at the time of receipt, a person must sign for the package to say it has been delivered to, among other things, the correct address. Since I am either at work or at school during the days, I am never home to receive the packages and thanks to my roommates, they have been here to sign or the UPS dude has left a delivery package note.
Yesterday, on the one day that I do not have class or work in the morning (well, I have class from 8:30-10) and our door bell rings at about 10:15am. Now, we have a sign on our door telling people not to ring our door bell so we can let them in. If you have been to my place, our apartment is right beside the main entrance and people randomly press our door bell to be let in because they see our apartment number. At first, I didn't mind opening the door for a few people since all we had to do was press the "door" button in our apartment to let people in. However, since the installation of the swipe card, the button inside the apartment no longer works and now everyone has to physically go open the door for people. Well, with constant door bell ringing, it got pretty annoying because it got to the point where we were letting in strangers and they were not even grateful for us of opening the door. So we got so sick of having to come out of our rooms in the middle of our studies to open doors for people who we don't even know, so one of my roommates stuck the note on our door. I had threatened to whip open the door next time some random person rings our bell and so at 10:15am today, was my opportunity.
Back to the UPS guy. As soon as I whip open the door (and was pretty much ready to tell someone off), I see a man dressed in a brown uniform holding a package. I open the door and he had this look of shock on his face. He proceeds to ask if I was "Lydia" and I said yes! He said "ohmahgawd, you do exist!" By this time, two of my roommates had come to door to see who it was and they heard the UPS guy and was laughing hysterically. The UPS guy was so excited to see me because for the longest time, he thought my roommates were ordering things under a pseudo name and sending it to this address. Then he jokingly asks for photo identification because he wanted to make sure I am who I really said I was. Hahaha. I think I just made his day because he was just so happy to finally meet me. LOL.
Reflection
But this whole episode gets me thinking on a related topic about existence, do people really try to know what's behind a person's name? I mean, everyday, we go to work or school and we meet people, but we generally only know them by name and not really know what their favourite sport, music, television show, interests and hobbies. All we know of them is that they're either our co-worker, workstation neighbour, or classmate. We probably do the general "howdy" nods and ask how their day is going, but do we generally take the time out of our schedules to see who they really are? The same thing goes for church services. Each and every Sunday, we generally sit in the same area and the same people are there as well, but we only know them by name. We don't know their interests, their hobbies, their prayer requests, their struggles with their journey, but all we know is their name. Heck, sometimes even we don't even know their name!
At my current church, because it is smaller, people generally know each other -- know their name, their status (employed, unemployed, student, etc.), but because there's so much to do before and after service, we don't have the time to really chat it up. But I really try my best to connect people with others, particularly the out-of-town students. While it takes a lot of courage for me to introduce myself and to get to know them, I still do it because I know God wants me to do this; to connect believers with other believers and not leave them stranded on the sidewalk.
At my home church, connecting people and knowing them becomes much more difficult. With over 1,500 members, it is so much more to know who is who. When I went home during Thanksgiving, I felt very out of place, even though it's my home church. True, that we recently moved into a brand spanking new building and everyone was still getting accustomed to the surroundings, but I just felt disconnected in there. Seemed like no one really came up to me to see how I was doing or saying "wow, I haven't seen you in awhile, I hope things are going well". It was more like they stayed within their own little cliques and went on their merry ways. This lady even asked me if I was in first year! I was a little shocked about that. Sure, there are people that know that I will be graduating this year from the University of Ottawa, but there are others who do not know who I am, but only know me by name. Although, I'm not looking for attention (and I rather not seek the attention), all I do wish for, and pray for, particularly within my own home church is the need to get to know people, not just to know them by their name, but to really get to know them -- to know their interests, their hobbies, their junction on the journey with God.
What I am truly grateful for at the moment, is the commitment by the members of my university-college fellowship to make an effort and come out every weekend to fellowship with each other. Our theme for this year is "Growing Together" and our theme verse is taken from Ephesians 4:14-16, where as a body of Christ, we are accountable to each other and we need to support each other on a regular basis. As chair, I have the responsibility to take the lead. And I want to get to know each member on a deeper basis; more than just their name. I want to know they exist. I want to know they are not just some regular church attendee within the four walls of the building, but without an "existence" within the church membership. That is all I ask for and pray for.
Song
Chorus to Fall In This Place by Planetshakers
"Come Holy Spirit
Fall in this place
I need more and more of You
Fill me again with the power of Your Spirit
Lord I’m crying out for
More and more of You"
No comments:
Post a Comment