I was talking to a friend of mine this afternoon. Now, when I say "friend", I've never actually met him. We worked for the same company for over a year, and we spoke on the phone almost every day as part of our jobs. And as soon as he figured out I had a personality behind the professional front I used to put up over the phone, we clicked. We've stayed in contact since I left that company, even though he doesn't even live in the same state as me. And it struck me, yet again, how it's amazing the friends you can make when you don't have appearances to put you off. We've had a crack at describing ourselves to each other, and we agreed that if we'd met in a more conventional manner we would never have bothered with each other! Instead, because we dared to venture beyond the superficial, we have a lasting and rewarding friendship. Much like those I have developed here with other bloggers. Except he's in the same timezone and I have his phone number.

If everybody could meet online or telephonically, nobody could tell what anybody's racial background is (assuming they don't still have an accent), and nobody would know if someone is ugly or fat or has a physical deformity. We would develop friendship or hatred based on individual personalities, instead of making an instant judgement based on how someone looks. Wouldn't that be nice?

One of my favourite descriptions of Jesus: A man who was nailed to a tree for saying how great it would be to be nice to people for a change. (Douglas Adams, RIP)