You and I.

You can listen to today’s devotion by clicking on this SoundCloud link.

“For the life of me I can’t understand how they could…” Fill in the blank there. Are there people whose actions or beliefs you can’t understand? Maybe you can’t understand how someone could hold the political beliefs they do. Maybe they have different views about the environment. Maybe they love or hate hiking in the woods. Perhaps they support a different #livesmatter than you. For the life of me I can’t understand…

I’m afraid that when I feel this sentiment, it would be more honest for me to say “For the life of me I WON’T understand.” I am perfectly capable of hearing logical or even emotional arguments and understanding them. But the real question is, will I allow myself to do that? Why does if feel like understanding the other side will erode my confidence in my position? I have found that it doesn’t have to. Instead, understanding leads to knowing the truth that we aren’t so different after all. Like opponents on the field, we can understand each other and still enjoy each other after the game.

By wisdom a house is built,
And by understanding it is established;
And by knowledge the rooms are filled
With all precious and pleasant riches.
Proverbs 24:3-4 New American Standard Bible

“Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Where there is hatred, let me sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy.
O, Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love; For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; it is in dying that we are born again to eternal life.” – St. Francis

We are not so different. For the life of us, let’s strive to understand one another. Amen.

Photo by Douglas Brauner

Copyright David Brukiewa