I was recently blessed to enjoy a meal with the first friend (non-relative) I ever made in my life. That in, and of itself, is remarkable. That isn’t lost on me. What makes it more special is that a great time was had by all.
See, life is funny and people are quirky.
We each handle these personal walks we’re given in such unique ways. These differences in perspectives/ experiences/ journeys is exactly what makes the tapestry of humanity so freaking beautiful. When we stop looking at our differences as obstacles and more so like enhancements. It makes a dinner that’s long overdue be such an enjoyable evening.
I bring this up because for someone that tries their darndest to see the cup as half full, our current social climate is exhausting. I mean… come on, people. Do we really take ourselves that seriously? Are we so disgustingly self-important/ self-righteous that we think our perspective/ experience/ journey is the only one? That because someone thinks differently than we do there is something wrong with them? Why?
People, our beauty and our strength lies in our differences.
Let me be very clear. We all have areas that we have convictions about and without getting in the weeds I’ll mention a few: politics, organized religion, social issues, ecological opinions, etc… the list is endless. However, I’m not inviting you to hang up convictions and sing Kumbaya… I’m saying… hang up, your hang ups and break bread with other humans and just enjoy that particular moment.
Go into situations ready and willing to go where the moment takes you, where the conversation organically flows without pushing an agenda or your strongly held political ideology.
It just saddens me that I look around and see people I know, with common historical, life-strands that overlap, tearing each other apart on social platforms. Don’t get me wrong, I’m one of the people reading all 684 comments as if it was a dramatic novel. HOWEVER, it does kill me. I just feel like we are so quick to share our unwelcome opinions. No offense, but why? Like… I don’t care what you think about the spotted owl, no offense, I just don’t. Now, if over dinner, you bring up your concerns over the dwindling spotted owl population, well… my momma didn’t raise a rude bitch, we’re gonna talk about spotted owl’s. And then… we’re gonna talk about other crap. That’s it. HUMAN INTERACTION.
People… I had dinner with my 1st friend ever. We chose different paths in life, we’ve lived in different places, we have lives and experiences that both equally matter and are of equal significance and importance, and both these journeys regardless of the differences, should be treated respectfully. I don’t know what her political leanings are, what religious affiliations exist, nor what her freaking opinions on spotted owl’s are… you know why? Because it wasn’t relevant to the conversations and laughter shared.
My prayer is that we stop policing one another and painting our differences in this negative light. Guys… none of us are perfect, we all suck, get over it. However, in the intimate conversations, in the moments of laughter and respect, when appropriate, the harder talks will happen if they are meant to happen, and then… in that setting, share. Share your opinions, and know that those individual walks that have shaped our perspectives are just that, our perspective. Be respectful that another human’s journey looks differently and that’s not a bad thing.
In our differences we find our strengths… we’re loosing that people. There’s a segment of our population that is magnifying our differences and weaponizing them, and sadly, we’re allowing that to happen.
I’m grateful for my past, present and future. I’m grateful for the people God has allowed to come in and out of my life and I pray that through relationships and through investing time and love and respect into other humans I can, in my brokenness, demonstrate love. The kind of love that friends demonstrate regardless of time and space.
Treat each other the way you’d like me to treat you … jk… I’m still gonna laugh at you.