Strangers are Friends We’ve Never Met
When my husband and I became a friendship family for international university students, we quickly learned that strangers are friends we’ve never met. Those young people became lifelong family and friends.
Credit for “Strangers are friends we’ve never met” varies.
According to Quote Investigator, Irish poet William Butler Yeats often receives credit for saying, “There are no strangers here; only friends you haven’t yet met.” However, they have not been able to verify that claim. They did find a similar line in Edgar Guest’s 1915 poem, “Faith.” It says, “That strangers are friends that we some day may meet.”
What if everyone welcomed strangers as friends?
What if:
- Instead of prejudice, we looked for common traits.
- Rather than suspicion, we chose to cooperate.
- Instead of fighting, we sought friendship.
Let’s choose this statement’s belief and attitude.
Focus on:
- Positives in one another
- Possibilities for peace
- Hope for a better way to live
Remain friends through thick and thin.
“Dear friend, you are faithful in what you are doing for the brothers and sisters, even though they are strangers to you. We ought therefore to show hospitality to such people so that we may work together for the truth” (3 John 1:5, 8 NIV).
Thanks to Margie Holtzclaw for the suggestion.
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