05-30-24

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
May 30, 2024
So yesterday, after a funeral, I noticed a screw in one of my tires. I needed to get back to the church, but later in the afternoon, I was able to take it to the tire store for repair. When they brought my car around, I thanked the guy, opened the door, and sat down. The guy was really tall, but that did not hit me until my butt hit the seat. It was as far back as it could go. This short guy felt like he was sitting in the backseat. What made me laugh was that after pressing the button to move the seat forward, it felt like it took five minutes. It reminded me of a Tim Conway skit.

Anyway, it got me to thinking about perspective and how we do not walk in the proverbial shoes of others, or in my case, I have not looked at things from someone else’s seated perspective. I try to read authors whose life experiences are very different from my own, and whenever I can attend a lecture or engage across a table over a meal with someone who offers me a different perspective, I try to be there. But I believe that is only a first step. I don’t have a specific fix to suggest, but I pray for a growing desire to listen, respect, learn, ask genuine questions, and continue to try to see things from someone else’s perspective, even though we will always have much to learn.

God, give me a heart capable of compassion and a mind willing to hold other people’s experiences as worthy of the time it takes to listen and learn. Amen.