Compassion is so necessary in these divisive times


In a world where there is so much confusion, so much disagreement and so much polarisation, love is more important than ever. I don't mean the cheesy type of love where we say what we think we’re meant to and act the way we’re supposed to, but a more present type of love where we speak the truth in love and love in truth. Not always agreeing, but always seeking to understand. Not always winning, but seeking to be compassionate.

Every other day, something is happening that only continues to draw us farther away from each other. I can’t lie and say that we can all of a sudden have unified opinions. It takes some of us some time to listen to each other and sometimes, the truth isn’t what we want to hear. It’s not what we want to believe. But I think there’s something to be said about choosing to see the person behind the opinion. Choosing to ask instead of assuming you understand. I don’t always know the straight and narrow of different situations and I won’t pretend to. But for the things that I do know, I know that I didn’t come to those conclusions because the people that told me about them or supported me on my journey where unsympathetic to my doubts and confusion.

People don’t always want to see the truth or want to understand your point of view because it could mean that things have to change significantly. That’s one difficult thing I’m learning: truth, more often than not, incites change. And change is difficult. And so since this is something we can all understand, let’s all try to be a bit more gracious to others who are struggling as well.

For me, my faith is a huge example of this. I know so many people who do not believe in God and the thing is, I get it. I won't pretend that I know everyone's unique story but from the various reasons I have heard, I can understand why it doesn't seem like the right choice for people. Whether that's bad past experiences with church or christians or even God, or a lack of willingess to give up control or believe in what you can't see or seeing faith as a crutch, I can never fully dismiss the reasons why people don't agree with me. Not because I agree with them, but because you can't really dismiss someone else's feelings. They feel them whether you acknoweldge them or not. And while I hope to speak to people about the God that has changed my life, I hope to do that with compassion for the reasons they may be wary. And I think that compassion is so necessary in these divisive times.

God bless you.

Dera

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