Balls on a play field...

Most days I view life as a cosmic pinball machine. We're the balls, batted around seemingly at random. The popper launches us into orbit, and we proceed around the lane. But unlike actual pinball, we don't spend our time en route to the drain. Ok, perhaps some folk do, but I think most people don't do exactly that. Rather, we get popped around continuously, occasionally bumping into others on the lane. Our encounters with others on the lane might be brief, last some moderate amount of time, or perhaps they will last for years. No encounter is truly random--the universe controls the flipper, remember--and perhaps more important, no encounter is ever a waste, although what is gained can most certainly be. I think most encounters, however long in duration, only happen once. The flipper keeps us in perpetual motion, and we are all being tossed into other directions on the play field. But once in awhile, we encounter the same person twice. What we do with that encounter is entirely up to us, however. Do we meet briefly, learn something, and then move on, or do we allow for something more? I think it's important to consider it carefully. Most of us never get that chance again.