I love meeting new people

One of my spiritual mentors, whom I will refer to as Sir Christopher the Kindhearted (Sir Chris for short), has a lovely saying. It is:

God cares about His glory, and God cares about His people. And He cares about people more than He cares about other things like money.

Even as recently as two years ago, I don't know if I could have uttered the titular line. I did NOT enjoy meeting new people. I didn't like putting myself in an uncomfortable place where I had to both make myself vulnerable AND exert effort to get to know someone else's story.

But there is a rejoinder to Sir Chris' statement. If you care about God, you will find yourself caring about His people. And that is precisely a way by which I know that I have grown in my spiritual life during this present valley. I care about God today more than I ever have before, sorrowful yet always rejoicing nearly every day of the week. As I've come to care more about God, almost imperceptibly and certainly passively, I have come to care about His people. And that leads me today to make a consistent statement that I never would have even thought of two years ago.

I love meeting new people. I love hearing their stories and learning about what ignites their passions. It is why I can meet splendid strangers today and connect with them quicker and and on a deeper level than I ever have before.