The Race That Knows Joseph

When I was young I read the Anne of Green Gables series and loved it. The series emphasized the importance of friendship with people of all ages.  In one of the books, I learned about “the race that knows Joseph”. It was an “aha” moment for me and I have never forgotten that phrase.

“You’re young and I’m old, but our souls are about the same age, I reckon. We both belong to the race that knows Joseph, as Cornelia Bryant would say,” said Captain Jim. “

The race that knows Joseph?” puzzled Anne.

“Yes. Cornelia divides all the folks in the world into two kinds– the race that knows Joseph and the race that don’t. If a person sorter sees eye to eye with you, and has pretty much the same ideas about things, and the same taste in jokes–why, then he belongs to the race that knows Joseph.”

“Oh, I understand,” exclaimed Anne, light breaking in upon her. “It’s what I used to call–and still call in quotation marks `kindred spirits.’”

“Jest so–jest so,” agreed Captain Jim. “We’re it, whatever it is. When you come in tonight, Mistress Blythe, I says to myself, says I, `Yes, she’s of the race that knows Joseph.’ And mighty glad I was, for if it wasn't so we couldn't have had any real satisfaction in each other’s company. The race that knows Joseph is the salt of the earth, I reckon.”

That is how friendship starts … two people discovering that they belong to the race that knows Joseph …that they are two kindred spirits. Over the course of my life I have had moments when an acquaintance or I, in conversation, have said … “you too!” and I know, in that moment, that I have met another who belongs to the race that knows Joseph... I know that I have met a friend.
-- written by asd --