I don’t know about you, but I’ve stopped answering my phone unless the Caller ID tells me who it is. As always of late, the campaign advertising is getting too intrusive and too negative. The thing that has really been bothering me more and more is how candidates seem to be getting bolder about attacking their opponents. Please, tell me what you’re going to do! Don’t waste your time telling me what an awful person your opponent is!
The negativity doesn’t just happen with our candidates for political office, but it seems to be part of our society. I often wonder how we can demand that our schools stand against bullying when most people, if they really think about it, are guilty of bullying themselves. Is it really okay to belittle the grocery store clerk who doesn’t get you out of the store quickly enough? Why does it seem to be acceptable to make comments on how a person is too short or too fat or too….? How often do we hear derogatory comments aimed at our police officers? I recently heard about a business meeting that devolved into yelling and swearing. And we really think that our children don’t learn from how we behave?
Instead, let’s try to obey Jesus’ Commandment to “Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” What might that look like? It might mean that we have to look at our differences as blessings and not as things to disdain. Where would we be if we were all the same and all had the same interests? Think of how boring that would be! Our differences add color to our world. And yes, they sometimes cause disagreement. But that doesn’t lessen the value of the person! God has made some of us to excel at sports and athletics. Maybe that isn’t you. It certainly isn’t me. God has made some of us to be intensely curious about the world around us, we wouldn’t have scientists or doctors otherwise. God has made some of us to create beautiful objects with our hands — builders, people who work with cloth and yarn. God has made some of us to be drawn to the earth and animals — our farmers, veterinarians, zoologists. God has made some of us to have challenges in life: autism, depression and bipolar disorder, PTSD and so many more. God has made us all look different. There are people of all different heights, shapes, skin colors, hair colors, etc. Jesus didn’t say that we were just to love those who looked like us and acted like us.
Often, the entire month of November is focused on thanksgiving. What if THIS November, we focus on seeing what God sees in others. Let’s observe our differences as an opportunity to learn or simply accept them as a blessing. And to be honest, we often need to be kinder to ourselves as well. Because society points out our differences as flaws, we start seeing those flaws in ourselves too. Very few of us are ever going to look like the airbrushed models that we see in the magazines. Not everybody needs to go to college. Not every 6-foot-6-inch male is going to be good at basketball. That’s okay! Love who you are. That’s who Jesus loves. And then turn that around and love others in spite of (or even because of) their differences. God has placed His fingerprints on each of us. Look for them!
— Reflections appears regularly on the religion page. The column features a variety of local writers, coordinated through the Monroe Area Clergy Group. Kelly Jahn is pastor of the Juda Zion and Oakley Union United Methodist Churches.
