Happy 2015.
That seems a bit presumptuous to say. The year just started, how do we know that the entire year will be Happy. Maybe it isn't that the year will be happy, but that you will have more happy moments than moments that cause you to question life and faith.
I hope this year brings deeper relationships, deeper meaning to life, and a deeper understanding of your faith no matter what it is or who it is you believe in.
I found myself thinking today about a few different things. I'm a native New Yorker, born and raised, but have been living in Florida for some time. I say this to say my experiences are a bit different from a good portion of the audience. Where my understanding of things come from may be different from where yours comes from. The thing that I find separates us is not the differences, it's that many of us forget that our understanding come from our experiences. We forget the humanity behind the dissension. We forget that when people disagree, they are disagreeing from their own experiences. I recently came across someone who has an issue with the Bible. He says the Bible is false doctrine because it is man-made. I read some of the comments that were posted in response to his video. Many people were attacking him because of what he said. Maybe I did not read further in the comments, but I did not see at any point where someone tried to engage him in a dialogue to find out why he thought the way he did. I did not see where anyone had stopped to understand his point of view and agree to disagree. I found more people attacking him. Not to compare him to Jesus, but it did make me wonder if that was why many people embraced his teachings but also why many more people rejected his teachings. It makes me wonder if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them from seeing Jesus for who he is. I wonder if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them from embracing the spirit of that which Jesus taught. I wondered further if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them and continues to keep them divided on many of the fundamentals of the teachings of Christ. Do we spend more time splitting hairs on non-essential things and not enough time on helping each other understand and even when we try to bridge the gap, are people willing to meet us halfway?
My challenge for this year and beyond is to remember that what we think is right comes from our own experience and that all we can do is explain it to someone but that we should not attack them for their difference. I challenge you to embrace another's humanity and strive to work together instead of splitting hairs on non-essential things. I bet you will find that the people who you believe have the biggest differences actually have the greatest similarities.
Happy 2015 everyone.
That seems a bit presumptuous to say. The year just started, how do we know that the entire year will be Happy. Maybe it isn't that the year will be happy, but that you will have more happy moments than moments that cause you to question life and faith.
I hope this year brings deeper relationships, deeper meaning to life, and a deeper understanding of your faith no matter what it is or who it is you believe in.
I found myself thinking today about a few different things. I'm a native New Yorker, born and raised, but have been living in Florida for some time. I say this to say my experiences are a bit different from a good portion of the audience. Where my understanding of things come from may be different from where yours comes from. The thing that I find separates us is not the differences, it's that many of us forget that our understanding come from our experiences. We forget the humanity behind the dissension. We forget that when people disagree, they are disagreeing from their own experiences. I recently came across someone who has an issue with the Bible. He says the Bible is false doctrine because it is man-made. I read some of the comments that were posted in response to his video. Many people were attacking him because of what he said. Maybe I did not read further in the comments, but I did not see at any point where someone tried to engage him in a dialogue to find out why he thought the way he did. I did not see where anyone had stopped to understand his point of view and agree to disagree. I found more people attacking him. Not to compare him to Jesus, but it did make me wonder if that was why many people embraced his teachings but also why many more people rejected his teachings. It makes me wonder if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them from seeing Jesus for who he is. I wonder if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them from embracing the spirit of that which Jesus taught. I wondered further if people seeing the world from their point of view kept them and continues to keep them divided on many of the fundamentals of the teachings of Christ. Do we spend more time splitting hairs on non-essential things and not enough time on helping each other understand and even when we try to bridge the gap, are people willing to meet us halfway?
My challenge for this year and beyond is to remember that what we think is right comes from our own experience and that all we can do is explain it to someone but that we should not attack them for their difference. I challenge you to embrace another's humanity and strive to work together instead of splitting hairs on non-essential things. I bet you will find that the people who you believe have the biggest differences actually have the greatest similarities.
Happy 2015 everyone.
