Every person you meet is a new adventure – not to be feared, but cherished – as if a door were suddenly opened and you were whisked away to the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul, Norway’s Pulpit Rock, or the Great Barrier Reef in Australia.

     No passports required.

     Teaching English as a second language, I’ve been privileged to meet people from all over the world – most recently a couple from South Korea who are living here in Charleston. We enjoyed a picnic with them last Sunday, which gave us the chance to sample Jin’s delicious homemade sushi and learn that Koreans tend to put great stock in their dreams, especially when they involve peaches or black cats.

     What a trip! So much to learn. So little time.

     The way I see it, there are two reasons we close ourselves off to strangers and forfeit the beautiful adventure of making new friends. The first is fear. The second, closely related, is prejudice – that is, pre-judging someone without really knowing them.

     Here are some of the voices that may whisper through our minds and give us pause:  

     𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘪𝘳𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘵. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘵 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯’𝘵 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘮𝘦.

     𝘏𝘦𝘺, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘶𝘥𝘦. 𝘓𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘴!

     𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘩𝘦’𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘈𝘳𝘢𝘣𝘴 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘴.

     Such thoughts tend to isolate us, weaken our communities, and deprive us of friends. Remember that God did not give us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. (2 Timothy 1:7)

     We were created to enjoy one another!