Being Known and Starbucks

People have a need. A need to be known.

I see people. I am a Starbucks barista in downtown Chicago. Two blocks off of Michigan Avenue, less than a mile from the Chicago River, the Water Tower, the Hancock Building, the Wrigley building, Navy Pier,... you get the picture. Downtown with a vary diverse customer mix from business men and women, to tourists, sellers of thousand dollar shoes to waiters from restaurants. I see lots of people. Growing up and moving, traveling world-wide, living in other countries for lengthy periods of time, and being involved with different groups like choir, being in a dorm, etc. have let me see people. Lots of people, lots of times, over long periods of time.

I also talk with lots and lots of those people. Striking up a conversation is easy for me if I want to. I have plenty of opportunities while a work...and there's a lot of talking and listening when accumulated over months.

They don't care too much if I don't understand (or simply forget!) the actual facts about their work, their vacations, their life. What DOES normally matter is if I understand and "hear" their underlying relationship to whatever it is we/they are talking about. In seeing that underlying layer, I relate to the real person. Not just the worker, lawyer, doctor...things they do... but the heart of the true "them." We can connect, listen to each other as friends, and be encouraged that someone cares. We share and partially meet that fundamental human need to be known.

 If I don't initially see those who know me, they make sure I do see them. If I accidentally look at them but make no recognition of them if I'm talking to someone else or just zoning out, they feel hurt, disappointment, and sadness -I've even seen some anger over the fact that I didn't recognize their presence right away! Why? Because they want me to see them and acknowledge their existence. People want to be known. There is more to a person than what the eye sees, what their job is, and where they live. They are a person, to be known on some level or rejected.

People are made to relate. Each person that I have talked to, has an innate desire to be known by others, and know others. When given the chance, people want to relate. They desire to be seen. They long to be accepted. They yearn for relationship with other beings who have the choice to relate or not relate to them. (Even not wanting to relate with someone, acknowledges the other person's existence and the existence of some form of relationship) The depth and widthe of the relationship varies with each individual, but they want to be known ...even by me, the barista they see for 5 minutes each morning!

Praise the Lord for this unique feature of people! We do need to be known and know others! That's how God made us from the beginning to be like Him ~ to relate. Yeah, people literally and figuratively "are human" and cannot fully meet the "need-to-be-known" need. Where can it be met? Through the One Lord, who knows us. He created us, and knows every need before we ask Him (Matt 6:32)...and even more than that... He knows the best ways to meet those needs for each individual person! How amazing is THAT?! Let's get to know Him together! How we relate to Him, affects how we relate to ourselves, and that affects how we relate to others. People are known by God.

How well do you know Him? Yourself? Others?