Over fifty years ago in Sidney, Montana, people treated a stranger, someone who was different, with dignity and respect.

Several times this past week, I had the experience of synchronicity. For whatever the reason, people were operating on the same wave length, thinking of the same concepts, and then their thoughts and paths intersected. But tonight I had an even more delightful reminder of how small the world truly is and how connected we all are.

On Wednesday I was a visitor at the high school in Sidney, Montana. For those of you not from Montana, Sidney is a small town literally as far as you can go in eastern Montana before you enter North Dakota. Yesterday morning I woke up there and began a long journey (on a very small plane) which, after stops along the way, has placed me tonight in Marin County just outside of San Francisco.

On my own for dinner, I followed a friend’s recommendation and wandered into town for some sushi. I was seated at the bar at the same time as a Japanese couple and we struck up a conversation. I mentioned that I was from Missoula and, after some confusion that I was from Missouri, the man’s eyes lit up. Still speaking with a heavy accent, he said "I went to high school in Sidney, Montana!" We were both stunned as I told him I flew in from Sidney last evening and had been in the high school there on Wednesday.

My accidental dinner companion had moved to Sidney from Japan in the 1960s and lived there for two years. His father worked with the National Guard. He eventually moved to California and spent his career in technology in a city an hour or so from here (where he still lives.) We ate together with his wife. He told me about the traditional way of eating sushi in his native Japan (I had much to learn) as his wife observed that he was "old fashioned." It was lovely.

As we were finishing our last bites (I had mirrored his orders) he paused and looked at me. "Pardon me for saying this," he began, "but I just want you to know that I always felt welcomed in Montana," and then we parted.

Perhaps random chance explains what drew me to Sidney en route to California, drew my dinner companion and his wife to this town away from where he lives, drew us both to the same restaurant at the same time and seated us together. Perhaps.
But for me this story is a reminder that we are far more intertwined and the world is far smaller than we allow ourselves to believe. Moreover, how we treat each other and those who are "different" can create positive or negative ripples of energy across time, and someday, whether by random chance or some other force, they will again intersect.

Over fifty years ago in a small town, people treated a stranger, someone who was different, with dignity and respect. That positive energy came into my own life tonight. By sharing this story, I want to pass it along to yours.

By John J. Mudd https://www.facebook.com/john.j.mudd.5?hc_ref=NEWSFEED&fref=nf