My dentist came into the office and sat down and chatted with me for a good while before he even DID anything. He is a delightful young man who impresses me each time I see him. He is 28, just bought a fixer-upper house in Dearborn, has a girlfriend he doesn’t live with and a Lebonese/Portuguese roommate he does. He has lived all over the world in his 28 years because his father just retired from the United States Marines.  He says he is in Dearborn to stay, along with the rest of his family.

I guess we connect because we are of like mind.  He wishes some places in the states where he has lived were more open to ‘others’ here. He just went on his first mission trip abroad last year and was struck with how little ‘others’ there don’t have and how much we Americans do have.  He knows I have had similar experiences, here and there, and though we are ALMOST 50 years apart in age, we share a common belief that there IS more to do on this planet so we must do our little part.

He knows that I am a Christian; I know that he is a Muslim.

We both wonder about the mess we see around us and don’t want to add to it.  We both speak of leaning into our faith because we believe it can make a difference.

So we sit in his office together and we talk and we laugh and we ponder and we share that faith and then I head home with a filled tooth and a FILLED HEART.