People-watching at the GC Session

People-watching at the GC Session How God knows us

During the 62nd General Conference Session in St. Louis, it was exhilarating for me to have so many opportunities to be around people after another long winter of seclusion in my cold state of Nebraska. Due to my medical condition, I must be cautious and limit my exposure to respiratory illnesses as much as possible.

Therefore, I tried to remember to wear a face mask when spaces became crowded around me in St. Louis. Tens of thousands of potential virus carriers from around the world had me nervous about going to the session, but the last-minute invitation was just too tempting to pass up.

Trusting that God would protect me, and with my mask on, I was able to enjoy the masses of people up close on a few occasions…like waiting to see someone, or waiting for my ride to pull up in front of the event hall.

My “people-watching” opportunities allowed me to witness the diversity of my church family, coming and going after the main events on Sabbath. I would never have guessed that they all belonged to the same church denomination. It was fun to see their differences in dress, how they walked and talked (many of them in foreign languages I couldn’t even begin to identify).

I’ll never forget, as I was waiting for my ride to pull up that evening, how a small group of people from the South Pacific Division had gathered around me. A couple of them conversed with me briefly, but mostly they were just having happy interactions with each other in their native tongue.

Alright, I have to admit, the reason I’ll remember them is because the men were all wearing skirts! It was a great reminder that our differences don’t have to separate us. We must learn to see people as God sees us…as special enough to die for. Yes, only then can we achieve the global unity that God is looking for in His people.