How is it ever possible to be unified when people are so different?
A
physical therapist at the hospital, whom I will call Ramon, entered my room for
the second time that day. He commented
favorably about my pink t-shirt I changed into after the nurse removed my
I.V. He told me all about his pink
tie! Ramon placed a strap around my
waist, rolled my walker in front of me and off we went for an afternoon stroll throughout
the hospital. Like old friends, we
talked about everything. We shared
jokes, funny stories about our families and Ramon listened intently when I told
him about the inspirational devotional I read that morning. In turn, he responded with a story for me to chew on
as well. Time flew and my knee reminded
me it was time to get back to my room.
Ramon
scribbled notes on my patient chart and pulled his cell phone out of his back
pocket. He showed me a photo of him
wearing a bright pink tie with a matching handkerchief in his suit jacket
pocket. Clearly wearing pink did not
threaten his masculinity. I wanted to
encourage him. I told him he’s the
second man that day I noticed that wore pink.
I watched the President that morning on TV wearing his light pink
tie. That’s when Ramon went ballistic
and shouted he is throwing out his pink tie forever. And, by the way, how could I ruin a perfect
afternoon when things were going so well?
I laughed and Ramon stretched out a warm handshake with a sincere wish
for my speedy recovery. Our political
differences ended amicably but it’s not always the case in our polarized American
society.
Unity is my word this
year.
I
remember last fall curling up with my Bible and praying for God to show me a
corner of His heart to find a word to carry in my prayers throughout the coming
year. I learned during that quiet time
that we, God’s people, act out in displeasing ways when we fail to slow down
and listen to each other with acceptance.
It breaks His heart for He would have us love one another. I began a journey to pray for myself as well
as those in my one-mile radius to make it a priority to seek ways to promote
openness and not division.
I
mention the story about Ramon because surprises pop up and before we know it,
we’re disagreeing and sometimes vehemently.
That’s not a bad thing, but it could be if hearts remain stubborn and
self righteous.
I’m challenged. Unity is a divisive subject! If one feels strongly about truth, how then does one debate without losing oneself in the process?
I look forward to all that I will learn in this coming year.
Wow. I love how you handled what might have been an ugly moment with grace. You've raised a great point, my friend ... for which I've no answer. Nevertheless, I'm anxious to hear what others say and what you choose to share in the coming year. When the student is ready, the teacher appears.
ReplyDelete'Hope you don't mind terribly if I 'borrow' Ms. Moore's quote for my FB page. Love you!
Haha! I am glad that ended with a warm handshake.
ReplyDeleteI have relatives with whom I feel I should not discuss politics. That's a polite sentence, isn't it? What I mean is flames shoot from their hearts and break mine, though I am no fraile flower myself and probably (maybe, totally) have sharp opinions myself. Sigh. Yesterday...just yesterday, I am slow apparently...I sought the Lord about this because I am worried about an upcoming visit. I am not quite sure what to say or not say to them, but I do feel like He spoke to me about my attitude. Mercy, blessings, peace...all good things. Kindness wins. Being right may not even be important. I want to scream while typing that, "But I am right!" Ha...:-) ...but is my attitude right?
I don't end relationships because of differences of opinion; so I'm often shocked to read about people unfriending someone on FB or blocking someone from entering their blog because of political differences. What's happening in America after the last elections is a very bad example to the world.
ReplyDeleteI detest politics but since I don't live in a vacuum, I play the game of elections and accept its rules. Whether I like the result or not, the winner will be accepted by me. That's democracy.
I have been amazed at how many divisions have happened in the past year because of politics. We have it in our own family - my husbands sisters unfriended the rest of the family on FB and refused to come to the family Christmas party because we are conservative, and they say therefore we are hateful. It's very sad, and so far we haven't been able to come together following all that. I also see divisions at work, but at least there people are willing to disagree but talk and work together.
ReplyDeleteYou are so grace-filled, my friend. You handled the situation with the love of Jesus, and isn't that what we are supposed to do? I recently found myself alone with a person (a stranger) who is on the polar opposite end of a hot button issue. It was really strange, because for the longest time in our conversation, I didn't realize we had opposing views. I talked openly about my faith, as I would to anyone. As we talked, and he began to trust me and my heart, he opened up and told me about his lifestyle. He didn't need to tell me that, but it touched me that he trusted me with it. It almost seemed like it brought a great sense of relief for him to unload what seemed like a heaviness off his chest. I am not sure why he told me, really, but come to find out, he has been deeply wounded by Christians. That broke my heart. We both talked about what the Bible says about the issue...he already knew. We, without really saying it, agreed to disagree, and when we parted ways, I felt a sense of sadness. I can't really explain it. Did we become unified? Absolutely not, nor could we ever, and perhaps that is what made me sad. Truth has never been able to be unified with heresy. The two are worlds apart. But, we, as humans, can love one another, in spite of, right? Sending much love to you and praying for you and Tom every day, my friend. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Mary! Oh yikes, what a surprise for you. And your therapist too I would think.
ReplyDeleteI often think that everyone agrees with me, and boy, am I wrong about that! I am always surprised when friends of mine will pop up with an opinion that's completely opposite of mine. I don't make a huge deal of it, I figure they've come to their place thoughtfully. If there is a spirit of openness, then we can talk about our differences.
Bless your healing road my friend,
Ceil
Almost lost a friend many years ago because of our different, political views. Funny how she started raising her voice at me and even went to the extent of cancelling our lunch that day. I remained quiet and let her walked away. True enough, few steps later, she came back to where I was and started getting mad at me again and accusing me that she never understood why I had believed the way I had believed. I only said one thing, "There's nothing to understand until she wouldn't calm down. Either she continued her behavior or let go of our friendship." As if she woke up, she knew our friendship has far more worth than what caused that brief division. It's amazing how a good day turned sour. But I knew...the spiritual enemies are always seeking to devour. I was upset, too but I prayed and in that silent prayer, that was what gave me the grace to understand and accept and always be willing to choose "to love" than "to hate". As Christians, may we all learn to accept differing point of views without sacrificing what is pleasing to the Lord. Our loyalty should always be 100% to the Lord. No compromise. Media might not say any but President Trump has already done so many wonderful things to help this nation. God bless your accepting heart, always ready for reconciliation. Stay strong in the Lord's mighty power sister and hugs and prayers to you!
ReplyDeleteAgreeing to disagree is what I have to do many times. But isn't that life? You handled that very well Mary. My granny used to say, "Baby, everyone's not like us but we still gotta love what we can about them". LOL! She would say that as if to say, THEY NEED TO BE LIKE US, but since they aren't, lets try and love them anyways! My granny always had a way with words. Hugs and blessings, Cindy
ReplyDeleteGreat post and challenging question indeed!! I like the quote on the pink background, truth above unity. I also have been challenged with this lately. Its a great word, and great prayer, to pray for unity within our families, body of Christ, nations, neighbors. Its great how by bringing it up and showing your meeting with Ramon, we can all be blessed by your heart to have unity and not let the disagreement of opinions overpower the gifts of healing and friendship , a reminder to seek unity and have a heart of love towards others, even when sometimes it sure isn`t easy!! Blessings and Love!
ReplyDeleteOh Mary, what a sad thing that he will toss his pink tie just because. Your laugh sort of calmed the situation and I hope he will decide to keep his tie. Robert had a pink shirt that went well with his suit. Of course he had a blue shirt and several white ones too but not a pink tie. Hope your knee is doing better. Keep those walks up and may you heal completely.
ReplyDeleteI think you handled it well Mary. I have back tracked when I knew I was getting too deep into a debate. Oh, I love to debate but I think a listening ear works wonders and leaves that person with a sweet taste of our encounter. I went to my last therapy session today, seems I am doing well. Recently I felt like I turned a corner this last couple of weeks, got back in the pool for water aerobic, feels pretty good. It's time to work off some of the weight I gather while being so non active. Glad you are are doing well.
ReplyDeleteLove your attitude, Mary. To genuinely love people is to be able to disagree and still love them in our differences. Thanks for the reminder of Who we serve and the heart we're to have.
ReplyDelete