Building a Bridge this week to someone who is different from you….Or share where the Holy Spirit has been at work this week.
"God has spoken to mankind in many languages: through Judaism to the Jews, Christianity to Christians, Islam to Muslims. ... God is the god of all humanity, but no single faith is or should be the faith of all humanity." —Rabbi Jonathon Sacks, 1948-2020
Sally – The neighbor who lives across the street from us is Muslim. His name is Bashar. I can’t say specifically that we reached out to him this week. However, over the course of a couple of years he and Dave have had this Bromance going on – I love you brother, I love you man…..You know when Dave had all his heart issues and things he would say – Sally, I pray for you & Dave every night. My God listens…I am here for you at 2 in the morning…you come and knock on my door, I am here for you. So, last night at about 9 pm there’s a knock on our door and Dave puts his mask on and says – who’s here? And it’s Bashar bringing us persimmons, pomegranates and oranges. He just loves Dave and he cooks and will just knock on the door and deliver food & says – this is for David. I’m okay, I’m kind of chopped liver, but Dave is the man! So, it’s just kind of fun, because he has such a strong faith. He swears like a soldier but he’s just this man that wears his heart on his sleeve and just a really wonderful human. Of a different faith, but his God is God.
Janelle – I held that challenge close to me, when my Dad spontaneously chose to come to town and be here for election day. Which initially, & obviously brings up a lot of differences between us. So, I just held that with me – of pressing close and hanging out a little bit more trying to ask him a little more questions about himself, not about politics, but about himself. In that day particularly, when I felt myself wanting to make more distance and not go there; not go anywhere vulnerable, because I was afraid of where we may go and ending up in a big fight. It went well and he was a little more vulnerable. So, it was great.
Pastor Brett – I reached out to a couple of family members as well and told them I loved them, was thinking about them on Sunday & Monday. I actually was able to facetime both of them yesterday so, it was real nice and encouraging to make that connection and keep that bridge built.
Bonnie – Wednesdays & Thursdays I help at the Aloha Church of God Pantry. We deal with all kinds of people – Muslims, Hispanics, Chinese, Vietnamese; I could go on & on. Through masks it’s hard communicating particularly when there’s an accent – v’s and b’s, d’s and c’s they all sound the same when trying to get their name and the spelling. The thing I come away with is the humility that people exhibit when they are asking for food. And we make sure to tell them that there are other pantries they can go to if they need more food. We explain to them that this pantry and all of the church pantries are there to help them. It’s amazing to me the number of people that are coming to a pantry for the first time. That this whole mess that we’re in is causing people to have a lack of food. So, I think the church pantries all over our state are helping these people and no matter what race or what... Everyone is created equal in the church’s eyes, church pantries and the people working there. It’s just a blessing to be able to help with that kind of thing.
Martha – Bonnie, thank you! I like that word, humility. I think that’s a lesson that I have learned this week. I was praying to God a lot before the election; then I suddenly realized that I wasn’t praying to him because of political reasons as much as I had faith in the person that I wanted to win. It’s kind of humbled me a little bit, because I remember how I felt four years ago & how I feel now. I had to step back and just humble myself a wee bit. And so, I like that word. Thanks Bonnie for reminding me of that this morning.
Francie – I want to say something similar that struck me. I think this advice (building a bridge) is even better now. Because, I’ve seen a lot of things on social media about people being so happy…but the same people are saying they will never forgive those people who still voted for Trump....I just shake my head and say – but, that doesn’t move us forward in love and acceptance...We do need to move forward as a country and forward as people…and it would be difficult for anybody. Man, we’re still in a world of hurt no matter who’s the President if we are mad at half the country. So, reaching out to people, forgiving and understanding is maybe more important today than it was on Monday or Tuesday or yesterday, if we really want change for a different world for us and our families.