It’s a Small World After All

This past weekend, my wife and I decided to take an impromptu anniversary trip up to Cherokee, NC. We went to see a nostalgic concert featuring two artists from the 80s—because, let’s be honest, sometimes you just need a little retro in your life.

What we didn’t expect, though, was to spend the weekend running into people we knew! Even though we were more than two hours away from home in this little mountain town, we bumped into my wife’s cousin, some family friends, and even a young family from our previous church. By the end of the trip, we couldn’t help but laugh and say, “It’s a small world after all!” (my apologies if the song is stuck in your head now)

Moments like that remind me how connected we all really are. Sometimes it feels like we live in a big, disconnected world—everyone busy, spread out, doing their own thing. But then something happens that reminds us how small and beautifully intertwined the world can be.

The Apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:4-6, “There is one body and one Spirit… one Lord, one faith, one baptism; one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all.” In other words, we’re all part of the same family—God’s family. And when you belong to that family, you can travel just about anywhere and still find reminders of connection, love, and grace.

So, the next time you find yourself unexpectedly crossing paths with familiar faces—or even making new friends in unfamiliar places—take it as a gentle nudge from God. You’re part of something much bigger than you realize, and yet somehow, wonderfully close-knit at the same time. Because when God’s at work, it really is a small world after all.

May God hold you,
Rev Chris Hester