There Are People I Love

                                                           There Are People I Love

There are people I love who see protests against the flag as displays that are shameful, disrespectful and un-American.

There a people I love who see protests against the flag as outward displays of what it means to be an American.

There are people I love who won’t eat meat. They say the very idea of taking the life of an animal is cruel and immoral.

There are people I love who devote much of their time and resources to the act of hunting and killing animals for food. They say they love nature and are doing their part to help keep it balanced and healthy.

There are people I love who say that aborting a fetus is cruel and immoral.

There are people I love who say that aborting a fetus is a woman’s right and that bringing another unwanted child into terrible situation would be cruel and immoral.

There are people I love who think capital punishment is cruel and unjust because they value human life.

There are people I love who think capital punishment is necessary because they value human life.

There are people I love who think an armed citizenry is an invitation to evil.

There are people I love who think that an unarmed citizenry is an invitation to evil.

There are people I love who call themselves Christians and devote their lives to serving others. They welcome all, equally, into their fellowship, making none feel unworthy. They attract people to their faith by living it out as an example.

There are people I love who call themselves Christians and carouse, carry on, and curse. They reveal no empathy and spout hateful things about people less fortunate than themselves.

There are people I love who believe in no god and show care and concern for the down-trodden, devoting their time and money to helping those in need. They live very Christ-like lives without an ounce of religion.

There are people I love who are bold, boisterous, and boastful. They have convinced themselves they are right and wear that conviction like a badge of honor.

There are people I love who are meek and mild-mannered. They would never force their opinion on anyone. They understand that they are likely wrong sometimes.

There are people I love who seek out only the perspectives that validate their own. They are either disgusted by other perspectives or frightened by them-perhaps both.

There are people I love who often seek out perspectives different from their own. They may, indeed, also be frightened by them but yearn, always, to better understand them.

There are people I love who could never be in the same room with each other and talk about anything substantive. They’d be at each other’s throats almost instantly. They view their worlds from opposite poles.

Who’s right?
Who’s wrong?

Who cares?
These thoughts came to me today as I mowed my lawn. As I reflect upon this, it occurs to me that, at various points in my life, perhaps even at different points through a given day, I have been most of the people I described above.

As my world view continues to evolve, it becomes much less important to me what people think and much more important that they are thoughtful, introspective, and willing to listen to others.

My dream world would be one in which we could all say to one another, I may not really agree with you, but I can certainly understand why you feel that way.

It doesn’t really seem like such a far fetched dream world to me.

But I could be wrong…