MEET AND GREET BY LORRIE D. GRANT

You know that time in church when they say, “let’s take a few minutes to meet and greet the people around you?” I’m gonna come clean here and tell you this is probably the worst part of the church service for me. I guess after all these years I’m used to it, but I’m still not a fan. Contrary to the belief of many, an extravert I am not. Is it my imagination, or does it seem this meet and greet time gets longer each week? I believe it’s meant to make visitors feel welcome, and I think it most often does. A quick two-minute acknowledgment of those sitting in front, beside, and behind me is fine. But the times when it goes any longer than that, I simply don’t know what to do with myself. If I sit back down, do I look like I’m being rude, disobedient, or unsociable? Perhaps I appear as unapproachable or distant. If I leave my seat and walk around, I feel like a little lost puppy trying to find someone that will give me their attention.

This week we were instructed to “go shake hands with two people on the other side of the room.” Are you kidding me? For the extraverts in the room, it’s the best thing ever. For someone like me, the only word to describe it is… painful. I introduced myself to Hannah on my left and Lois on my right. The couple sitting in front of me had already started making their way out of their row and had their backs to me. When I turned around, I found no one sitting behind me. So there it was. The awkward moment of having to figure out what to do for the next four and a half minutes. So, I did what every well-trained introvert would do. I slipped out of my seat and went out to the lobby for a moment to gather some information about upcoming events.

My plan worked wonderfully. A few minutes killed in the lobby before wandering back in and taking my seat. Hannah was still on my left and Lois on my right. Just after I took my seat, Hannah leaned over me to introduce herself to Lois. Lois was an older woman, a bit frail, but enthusiastic enough to engage with Hannah, who was in her early thirties.

“Good Morning, I’m Hannah”, Hannah said as she extended her hand for a polite handshake. “Lois”, the woman on my right replied. However, Hannah couldn’t hear Lois over the conversations around us. “Louanne?” Hannah asked. “No, Lois,” the older woman replied. “Linda?” Hannah said. “No, I’m Lois, Clark Kent’s girlfriend”, she said. “Oh, very nice to meet you, Lois,” Hannah said, and she took her seat.

What a great reply. “I’m Lois, Clark Kent’s girlfriend.” I can tell you; I won’t forget her name.

A couple of things crossed my mind as I sat there in a place where it seemed everyone knew someone except for me. I realized it’s ok for me to be a complex introvert who is socially awkward and much too aware. I also realized most of us have a need to feel unforgettable, unique, and memorable. It’s simply human nature to feel as if we matter. It’s not just a Lorrie thing.

We may never find a place like Cheers where everybody knows our name, and I can’t promise you we will never feel invisible. However, we can take comfort in knowing the one who matters most, has and always will, know our name.

David makes that perfectly clear in Psalm 139:1-16

“O Lord, You have looked through me and have known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up. You understand my thoughts from far away. You look over my path and my lying down. You know all my ways very well. Even before I speak a word, O Lord, You know it all. You have closed me in from behind and in front. And You have laid Your hand upon me. All You know is too great for me. It is too much for me to understand.

Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I run away from where You are? If I go up to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in the place of the dead, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning or live in the farthest part of the sea, even there Your hand will lead me and Your right hand will hold me. If I say, ‘For sure the darkness will cover me and the light around me will be night,’ even the darkness is not dark to You. And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are the same to You.

For You made the parts inside me. You put me together inside my mother. I will give thanks to You, for the greatness of the way I was made brings fear. Your works are great and my soul knows it very well. My bones were not hidden from You when I was made in secret and put together with care in the deep part of the earth. Your eyes saw me before I was put together. And all the days of my life were written in Your book before any of them came to be.”

Wishing you Peace and Joy, Lorrie