Peril of a Woman’s Fleeting Look
Whilst visiting a new church one day I had an interesting thing happen to me which I would like to share with you.
In the pew right in front of me was a single woman. She was alone… I noticed she didn’t seem to know any one much…and somehow my attention was drawn to her a few times… and I caught her stealing sly glances over her shoulder now and then.
After the service was over I left and moved to the hall where we were going to have a shared lunch. As I walked into the room I saw the same young woman I had sat behind in church. She looked up from where she was sitting amongst all the other folk as I entered. Next to her was an empty chair. It was with calm deliberation and a sincere wish to be polite and kind that I filled my plate with food and casually wandered over to the empty seat. It was not until the last moment that the woman knew where I was going, although she looked up at me as I approached… A bright flush spread across her face as I sat down beside her and asked:
“Where are you from?”
“Australia,” she replied.
“Ah! You are on holiday?”
“I am a student…” was the hesitant statement.
It turned out she was visiting the church and was a student at university and also a teacher at a Christian Girls School.
Slowly we got talking about all the recent earthquakes and life in general. I asked her why she cared to stay in our city in the light of recent events. Apparently the earthquakes did not affect her. She found them rather entertaining, which was surprising. She was quite at ease about them…
The woman had no problem talking to me once she had got over the first
shock of my deciding to talk to her.
I told her a little of our story and how my family and I had been terribly frightened in the earthquakes. I was chatting away when I saw her steal a swift glance at the woman next to her. That look told me a world about her heart… She was bored talking to me and was waiting for me to dry up. I promptly stopped… within a moment or so she got up and when to put her plate in the sink.
Needless to say, she never came back… instead 10 minutes later I turned around to see she was still in the kitchen trying to avoid me.
Now why would she just ignore me when I was only being friendly and polite? I was only chatting about the recent events… both from her point of view and my own. But somehow she didn’t want to carry on the conversation. The look she gave the other woman was what shocked me more than anything else. It is one thing to be shy and not want to talk, but to give a swift bored, impatient look to her friend was not a Christian act at all. Her friend returned the look with one of sympathy.
As I thought about it all, I came to see that people show one side on the surface, and they show another side underneath. It is only as you talk to a person over time that you come to know them and their ways. Little hidden secrets show themselves in time… in some people sooner than in others.
Watch and listen to a person carefully before trusting them. What they show you might not be the real person… Only Christ can show you the faults in any man or woman… so ask Him to show you, and believe me He will! Never trust what you can see with your eyes… that could be fatal! Seek the Lord and ask for wisdom.
Adam R. B. Reeve
19th June 2011
In the pew right in front of me was a single woman. She was alone… I noticed she didn’t seem to know any one much…and somehow my attention was drawn to her a few times… and I caught her stealing sly glances over her shoulder now and then.
After the service was over I left and moved to the hall where we were going to have a shared lunch. As I walked into the room I saw the same young woman I had sat behind in church. She looked up from where she was sitting amongst all the other folk as I entered. Next to her was an empty chair. It was with calm deliberation and a sincere wish to be polite and kind that I filled my plate with food and casually wandered over to the empty seat. It was not until the last moment that the woman knew where I was going, although she looked up at me as I approached… A bright flush spread across her face as I sat down beside her and asked:
“Where are you from?”
“Australia,” she replied.
“Ah! You are on holiday?”
“I am a student…” was the hesitant statement.
It turned out she was visiting the church and was a student at university and also a teacher at a Christian Girls School.
Slowly we got talking about all the recent earthquakes and life in general. I asked her why she cared to stay in our city in the light of recent events. Apparently the earthquakes did not affect her. She found them rather entertaining, which was surprising. She was quite at ease about them…
The woman had no problem talking to me once she had got over the first
shock of my deciding to talk to her.
I told her a little of our story and how my family and I had been terribly frightened in the earthquakes. I was chatting away when I saw her steal a swift glance at the woman next to her. That look told me a world about her heart… She was bored talking to me and was waiting for me to dry up. I promptly stopped… within a moment or so she got up and when to put her plate in the sink.
Needless to say, she never came back… instead 10 minutes later I turned around to see she was still in the kitchen trying to avoid me.
Now why would she just ignore me when I was only being friendly and polite? I was only chatting about the recent events… both from her point of view and my own. But somehow she didn’t want to carry on the conversation. The look she gave the other woman was what shocked me more than anything else. It is one thing to be shy and not want to talk, but to give a swift bored, impatient look to her friend was not a Christian act at all. Her friend returned the look with one of sympathy.
As I thought about it all, I came to see that people show one side on the surface, and they show another side underneath. It is only as you talk to a person over time that you come to know them and their ways. Little hidden secrets show themselves in time… in some people sooner than in others.
Watch and listen to a person carefully before trusting them. What they show you might not be the real person… Only Christ can show you the faults in any man or woman… so ask Him to show you, and believe me He will! Never trust what you can see with your eyes… that could be fatal! Seek the Lord and ask for wisdom.
Adam R. B. Reeve
19th June 2011