Just People part 2
I like words. Duh. I'm a writer, right? A writer who doesn't like words would be like a fish who doesn't like water. Words are an amazing way to express ourselves. Did you know there's even a word that means "incapable of being expressed or described in words"? It's ineffable. And I think that's the best way to describe people. People are ineffable. We defy description. There is no box you can put us all in. Or any of us, really. We're contradictory. Hot one day, cold the next. Ever changing. Always evolving. I'm so much different than I was even five years ago that I probably wouldn't even recognize myself. So when we try to apply a standard to people, I think the only one that fits is "just people." Because it evens the playing field. It doesn't let any one of us think we're better than any other. We're all just people. In the same world. Going through the same stuff. We put up a lot of walls, but the truth is we're all in this together. We're all different parts of the same body (whether we know it or not). We're all just people. And since we're all just people, we really ought to give each other a break. Give each other some mercy, and some grace, and some room to learn and grow. I try to quote this verse from Revelation as often as I can, because I never hear anybody else quote it ever. Revelation 21:11, "He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still." We have to let people be people. We have to stop trying to change people. Don't we understand it's the GOODNESS of God that leads man to repentance? Not the scariness of God. Not the punishment of God, or the condemnation of God. The goodness. Showing someone a more excellent way, so that they'll have a reason to run TO God instead of running FROM Him. And guess what: The only way to show someone that more excellent way is to love them. Unconditionally. No matter what THEY do. And that's called the Word being made flesh. That's called love in action. Which is charity. Not expecting anything from anybody. Not trying to get anything from anybody. But giving something to somebody. Sharing what you have. Sharing experiences. Sharing strength. Even sharing weakness. Paul wrote about being all things to all people, right? Finding that common ground. Not demanding that someone come up to where you (think you) are at, but coming down to their level. We're just people. The ground is level at the cross. We don't have to make other people look smaller to make ourselves look bigger. We can stand shoulder to shoulder and bear one another's burdens. We can stop letting "issues" or other surface stuff distract us from the bond of love that is deep inside. The Jesus in me connecting to the Jesus in you. The deep calling out to the deep. Spirit to Spirit. Holy to holy. And not "holy" how it is usually preached. Not "holy" as the current culture of the day. But "holy" as in set apart. Which to me always meant, "If everybody is miserable, maybe Jesus set us apart to be happy." Joy unspeakable, right? Good cheer in the midst of whatever trials and tribulations come our way. And helping others through those same trials and tribulations. Not judging them for going through the same stuff we go through, but helping them through it. Because that's how we GET through it. Together.