Being Asked to Dance
Everyday I have conversations with people. I talk with people with different backgrounds. I talk with people that have different political opinions. I talk with people that have different lifestyles. I talk with people that have differing education levels. I have conversations with people that have different challenges. Our differences make us unique.
Diversity. By itself, Diversity is good. By itself, Diversity is not great. Inclusion is great. To steal a line from a Diversity and Inclusion class that I attended at work "Diversity is being invited to a party. Inclusion is being asked to dance".
Children are gift from God to remind us that love knows no boundaries. Listen to the message that our children teach us. Oh, to have the heart of a child again. I should be so lucky. We should all be so lucky. There is no judgment in the heart of a child.
I watched "The Breakfast Club" two nights ago with my daughter. I enjoyed the movie, but I enjoyed the conversations with my daughter more. We talked about cliques. We talked about differences. We discussed what makes people the way they are. This movie has a short dialogue that sums up what happens to us.
Andrew: "My God, are we going to be like our parents?"
Claire: "Not me. Ever."
Allison: "It's unavoidable, it just happens."
Claire: "What happens?"
Allison: "When you grow up, your heart dies."
I don't want to believe this, but sadly, Allison makes a valid point. Like I mentioned before, children are gift from God to remind us that love knows no boundaries. Yet, we change. We have to sort people into categories, classes, colors, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliations... The list goes on and on.
What happens to us? Why must we allow the world to change our hearts as we grow older? Each event, each experience changes our opinions of others. We weaken as we grow.
We put on an exterior that says "Look at me, I have heart that is welcoming to everyone". We are so convincing that we truly believe this. We invite people to the party. Do we ask them to dance?
The next time you argue politics with someone, ask yourself "Am I asking them to dance or am I asking them to leave the party?"
The next time you see a single mother struggling to control her child ask yourself "Am I judging her parenting skills or am I trying to understand her struggles?" Will you pray for her? Do you consider Autism or do you think "That child needs a butt whooping."?
Does an "Obama-Biden" bumper sticker upset you? Do you react?
Does a "Make America Great Again" hat anger you? Do you argue?
Does a kneeling athlete make you mad? Do you ask why?
Did you read the New testament? If you did, you know that Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not popular at the time, to say the very least. You also know that Paul was once known as Saul. Read "Galatians 1:13 - 14". You can read his own words. Jesus looked past the outward appearances of people. He looked past their faults. He saw the good. Do you?
As humans, it is hard to see the good in our fellow man. We look for evil. We look for the worst. We build ourselves up by looking for the bad in others. "You are not like me. You are wrong."
Social Media gives everyone a platform. Do you press your beliefs on others only to "delete" them when they disagree with you. Allison said "When you grow up, your heart dies."
Everyday I have conversations with people. I talk with people with different backgrounds. I talk with people that have different political opinions. I talk with people that have different lifestyles. I talk with people that have differing education levels. I have conversations with people that have different challenges. We laugh. We have a good time.
I believe most people are good. Of all the people that I know personally, I can't name one that is evil. How can this be? I turn on the news on the TV and the computer and I am bombarded with how the world is full of "Evil People". Yet, I can't name one single evil person that I know personally.
"Most People Are Good" is song that Luke Bryan recorded. It was written by David Frasier, Ed Hill, and Josh Hill. Have you listened to it? I ask that you turn off the news and play this song. "I believe if you just go by the nightly news, your faith in all mankind would be the first thing you lose".
Don't invite me to your party unless you are going to ask me to dance. Don't "delete" me for my political opinions. Instead, listen to me. I promise that I will listen to you. We will laugh. We will try and find the heart from our childhood that is dying. We will dance. Who knows, maybe we will dance together in the house that is being built Over Yonder.
Diversity. By itself, Diversity is good. By itself, Diversity is not great. Inclusion is great. To steal a line from a Diversity and Inclusion class that I attended at work "Diversity is being invited to a party. Inclusion is being asked to dance".
Children are gift from God to remind us that love knows no boundaries. Listen to the message that our children teach us. Oh, to have the heart of a child again. I should be so lucky. We should all be so lucky. There is no judgment in the heart of a child.
I watched "The Breakfast Club" two nights ago with my daughter. I enjoyed the movie, but I enjoyed the conversations with my daughter more. We talked about cliques. We talked about differences. We discussed what makes people the way they are. This movie has a short dialogue that sums up what happens to us.
Andrew: "My God, are we going to be like our parents?"
Claire: "Not me. Ever."
Allison: "It's unavoidable, it just happens."
Claire: "What happens?"
Allison: "When you grow up, your heart dies."
I don't want to believe this, but sadly, Allison makes a valid point. Like I mentioned before, children are gift from God to remind us that love knows no boundaries. Yet, we change. We have to sort people into categories, classes, colors, sexual orientation, religion, political affiliations... The list goes on and on.
What happens to us? Why must we allow the world to change our hearts as we grow older? Each event, each experience changes our opinions of others. We weaken as we grow.
We put on an exterior that says "Look at me, I have heart that is welcoming to everyone". We are so convincing that we truly believe this. We invite people to the party. Do we ask them to dance?
The next time you argue politics with someone, ask yourself "Am I asking them to dance or am I asking them to leave the party?"
The next time you see a single mother struggling to control her child ask yourself "Am I judging her parenting skills or am I trying to understand her struggles?" Will you pray for her? Do you consider Autism or do you think "That child needs a butt whooping."?
Does an "Obama-Biden" bumper sticker upset you? Do you react?
Does a "Make America Great Again" hat anger you? Do you argue?
Does a kneeling athlete make you mad? Do you ask why?
Did you read the New testament? If you did, you know that Matthew was a tax collector. Tax collectors were not popular at the time, to say the very least. You also know that Paul was once known as Saul. Read "Galatians 1:13 - 14". You can read his own words. Jesus looked past the outward appearances of people. He looked past their faults. He saw the good. Do you?
As humans, it is hard to see the good in our fellow man. We look for evil. We look for the worst. We build ourselves up by looking for the bad in others. "You are not like me. You are wrong."
Social Media gives everyone a platform. Do you press your beliefs on others only to "delete" them when they disagree with you. Allison said "When you grow up, your heart dies."
Everyday I have conversations with people. I talk with people with different backgrounds. I talk with people that have different political opinions. I talk with people that have different lifestyles. I talk with people that have differing education levels. I have conversations with people that have different challenges. We laugh. We have a good time.
I believe most people are good. Of all the people that I know personally, I can't name one that is evil. How can this be? I turn on the news on the TV and the computer and I am bombarded with how the world is full of "Evil People". Yet, I can't name one single evil person that I know personally.
"Most People Are Good" is song that Luke Bryan recorded. It was written by David Frasier, Ed Hill, and Josh Hill. Have you listened to it? I ask that you turn off the news and play this song. "I believe if you just go by the nightly news, your faith in all mankind would be the first thing you lose".
Don't invite me to your party unless you are going to ask me to dance. Don't "delete" me for my political opinions. Instead, listen to me. I promise that I will listen to you. We will laugh. We will try and find the heart from our childhood that is dying. We will dance. Who knows, maybe we will dance together in the house that is being built Over Yonder.
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