Galatians 3:28 There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus.
Oh, how I love this scripture passage; it speaks to me. We may live in different parts of the world with a different language, we may have different customs and beliefs, or have different color skin, hair, and eyes, but we are all brothers and sisters in humanity. That is how I understand this scripture; we are all connected together as brothers and sisters in this world. I see this first hand in Thailand. The Thai people have done everything in their power to embrace us as their brothers and sisters, even though we look and talk very different. We are so thankful to be in a place that does not isolate us or push us away because we are different. Our world could be so peaceful if we could just set the judgments aside and begin to see each other as family; to listen fully and to act with humility.
When we forget to listen to what others believe and just hear them speak, waiting to reply, we are unable to understand what they are saying. When we truly listen with our hearts and value the opinions of others, we open ourselves up to acceptance and love. When we love those who differ from us, whether by looks, beliefs, or whatever, we can then can live together peacefully as brothers and sisters. We are all together in this world and truly I don’t see that we are that different. If we just take a few steps back and look at the bigger picture, we will see how similar we really are to one another. We are all seeking the same things, love and acceptance; “loneliness and the feeling of being unwanted is the most terrible poverty” (Mother Theresa). Instead of arguing about which way to fix this “terrible poverty” why not take the first step and make the first ripple.
My prayer for our world is to find a way to embrace our differences so we can learn from one another and to embody humility so we can understand that we may not have the answers (even though we think we do), but realize that someone else may actually have a better idea. With humility we can value another’s opinions and together we can evaluate what the best choice actually is without our need to be right hindering us. Right now we all are so focused on being right and maybe we are. Maybe we are all right, just in different ways. Maybe the solutions to the problems of our world lie in the solutions of everyone, not just one side or another; maybe there is no right and wrong, just different approaches. I guess the moral here is that maybe the answer to our worlds problems is learning to become a humble and silent listener; listening with the intent to understand, not to reply and being open to the possibility that we may be wrong.
Sara's Daily Scripture and Journal 