Bless Them, Change Me

For a long time, I felt lost as a follower of Jesus--trying to reconcile what I believed with what I saw and heard around me: a lot of intolerance, hypocrisy, and judgement...all justified by faith and scripture. Things seemed so obviously black and white to everyone else, which is a problem for me who tends to see the world in shades of gray. My perspective and passion for social justice comes from my faith (ok, and my mom who always made us think about the other person's point of view.  This drove me crazy at the time but now I completely appreciate).  So, I wasn't sure if or where I fit.  Luckily we found a great church and I started reading articles from Sojourners--an organization that promotes social justice, unity and compassion for all people (not just the ones that look like us or believe the same things we do) in a biblically centered way.  Their articles challenge me to not only know more about the bible and the teachings of Jesus, but to put my faith into action.

Don't you love when you hear or read something that strikes a chord—or when it feels like an answer to your prayers and a solution to your struggles?  The article I came across today resonated with where I am right now and things I am struggling with. 

"I’m just saying that the longer I live and the further I travel and the more I see and experience of the brokenness of life, the more I realize that every encounter and every relationship goes better when we approach it from a position of love. I don’t think love means that we have to agree about everything. But I think it means that we listen hard, and that we do our best to understand the fears, the frustrations, the dreams, the worldview, and the experience of "the other."  And while we listen, we pray that God will open the eyes of our hearts and expand the capacity of our minds. And we pray that the Spirit, the passion, and the redemptive work of Jesus will have its way in us and in the world." 

On Sunday, our Pastor told a story about a Rabbi who was just out of seminary.  The Rabbi had a burning desire to go out and change the world.  But, after several years, he felt discouraged and thought maybe he could just work to change his nation…a few years later maybe just his city…then just his family...and finally just himself.  After living a long life, he realized that if he had only worked to change himself first, then he may have been able to change his family and his city, the nation and even the world.  

Our Pastor went on to say that the responsibility to change things starts with us: if we want people to do something, we have to do it first and be the example.  Through our light and "position of love", we might then be able to reshape our relationships or make a difference in this world.

One of my dear friends says that when she is struggling with a relationship in her life, she prays "bless them, change me."  I love that idea...and feel called to work on approaching the situations and relationships in my life from this "position of love."