Jan 21st, 2023: Learning and Growing in Dealing with Differences

I am baffled by the conversation about people feeling unsafe when someone takes a stand because of their conviction. I have met vegan folks who are militant about their preference and vocally aggressive toward others. I met folks who took a stance on vaccination and condemned others who had a different choice. I have met people who accused others of taking their choice on human sexual identity.

We have lost the ability and civility when we disagree. We have made everything become a personal attack. If I decide that there is a certain kind of cuisine I don't care much for, it does not mean that I "hate" people from that geographic area. There are some dishes from a specific region in my birth country that I don't dare to try, just in case you want to know.

Disagreement and discourse are healthy when we learn how to respect one another and not to be prejudiced about it. If we do not feel free to express what we think and feel, we have reduced human existence to the lowest form. Much of my learning comes from interaction with people who don't always agree with me.

So let us get off the bandwagon when we talk about hatred and feeling unsafe because of other people's ideas and convictions. They can say the same thing about us. God always meets us at the limitations of our ability to reason and understand one another. He will stretch us and force us to grow in the knowledge of Who He is.

Proverbs 27: 17

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another."