ego tripping in the key of life

"Why do you hang out with so many people that are so different from you?"
Afternoon in the Cafe Aroma on Abbey Street.
The words belonged to Big Hair.
I pondered them.
"Okay," I mused. "Before I met you seven years ago, I was terribly alone. I was terrified I might stay that way. So I talked to God about it. It seemed God was saying to me that I would have to make an extra effort to meet people. For some people it just happens. It wasn't going to just happen for me. Then I met you. And of course very quickly I was terrified you might be my only friend. So that gave me the incentive to look harder. And grow more. And to be even more open. And then when a few more friends came along I didn't like to lose them because I remembered what it was like to be alone. And I remembered what it was like to have just you as a friend. Brrrrrr. Now I understood that there is a special gift from God reserved for those who are alone. The gift reserved for people who are alone is that they will have a particular appreciation and acceptance of other people and of friendship. A savour of friendship they could not have known if friendship had come easy to them in the first place. Look. God wasn't telling me to continue with friendships long after me and someone else had become insufferable to each other. But he'd taught me to be more patient. He'd shown me the gift. And he'd let me see that getting into a rage about little things didn't really help with anything. And so here we are. I have friends who are very different from me. I suspect some mystical purpose. We complete each other. By the grace of God. And I've come to realise something else. I never was alone. There were people around me I was turning away because they didn't fit the profile I had for friends. Uncle Scutch lived next door. Uncle Jim lived up the lane. Value friends wherever you find them in whatever country, age group or background. You will receive the most unexpected gifts from those to whom you are open. My faith would have been nothing if Uncle Scutch hadn't subjected it to the most horrendous rationalist scrutiny. Equally my faith might never have had its sweetness if Uncle Jim hadn't told me he'd seen Jesus as communion bread at Medjugorje. My rejection of communism would never have been true if I'd never met communists I love like the Henshaws. My defiance of Islamic terror would never have meant anything if I hadn't been open to the friendship of Muslims like Semra and the Sheikh. And so on."
Big Hair's eyes went wide and round.
"You're really full of yourself," quoth she.
"I know," sez I agreeably.