On Greetings

              It was a Friday night.  I was at the church just before youth group started.  My energy levels were running a little low and I was preparing myself in the office as the youth arrived.  One of the youth, a very good friend of mine, saw me and came over just to say hello.

            Sounds pretty normal.  That’s what you do when you see someone.  You say hello.  Only this greeting was unlike and far superior to any other I had ever received and have since received. 

            I confess I don’t remember most of the contents of the greeting.  There was a compliment or two.  But it wasn’t just the words that made it so beautiful.  It was the excitement she had.  The energy she put into the greeting.  I could see so clearly she was genuinely happy to see me.

            My energy levels were instantaneously replenished.  My spirits were lifted.  All because of one greeting.

            I still think about it from time to time.  And then I wonder to myself, why is something like that so uncommon?  What would happen if I stopped worrying so much about what people might think of me and showed excitement when I saw someone I cared about?

            Do we live in a culture that is afraid to show genuine affection for one another?  To display excitement when we see someone we love?  Worse yet, are we allowing the external circumstances of the world to dictate our internal love for one another?  Are we losing the love we used to have?

             The world will know we are His by our love for one another.  How are they going to see our love if there is no external expression of the internal affection we have for one another? How are they going to see that if there isn’t even any internal affection? 

            Something as simple as a greeting can change the course of an entire day.  Don’t be afraid to show genuine affection to the ones you love.

We share God’s DNA.  We share in Christ’s blood.  We share in the same Spirit and in the same salvation.  We are knitted together by an eternal bond.  A bond that goes far deeper than any disagreement or political differences.  May the world see that through the way we treat and greet one another.