The Good Muslim

On one occasion a religious minded lawyer stood up to test the Teacher. “Sir,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit a life that never ends - life to its fullest?”

“What is written in the Teachings?” he replied. “How do you read them?”

He answered, “Well - it says to ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’”

“Correct,” the Teacher replied. “Do this and you will live.”

But he wanted to show that he was virtuous on his own merit, so he asked the Teacher, “Who is my neighbor?”

The Mentor replied: “A man was traveling from the northern part of the United States to the deep south.  At a rest stop along the way - he was attacked by thugs. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. 

A prestigious pastor of a large congregation happened to be going down the same road and stopped at the rest stop.  When he saw the naked and destitute man, he drove away in a hurry. 

So too, a rich elder from a different well-to-do church (that was a major donor to political campaigns), when he came to the place and saw him, he drove off as well. 

But a dark skinned immigrant Muslim family, as they traveled, came where the man was - and when they saw him, they had compassion.  They went to him and bandaged up his wounds. Then put the man in their car, and travelled to a near city that was known for their proud patriotism, and helped him into the hospital. The next day the father paid the man’s medical bill in full.  Then he told the doctor - 'Look after him and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense that might accrue.’

“Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of the thieves?”

The lawyer replied, “The one who had mercy on him.”

The Teacher told him, “Go and do likewise.” 

Luke 10:25-37

Am I right?

“The Lord is not slow in keeping his promise, as some understand slowness. Instead he is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.”  2 Peter 3:9

Sometimes we sacrifice relationship in order to be “right.”

I don’t necessarily think we do it on purpose.  I think many times we just want to be heard.  We especially want to be understood.  But - being right is not the point of a relationship.  The older I get - the more I’m slowly (and I mean slowly!!) learning that relationships are about hearing the other person (listening) - and not being heard (talking).  It’s not about expression as much as it is about empathy.  

I’m horrible at this!  

Being right in a discussion or argument can often lead to hurt feelings and misunderstandings.  I never feel good in a relationship after an argument - win or lose.  It’s difficult to connect with someone after that kind of disagreement.  Superiority (or inferiority) can be a cancer to true intimacy.  

To make it even more difficult - it’s impossible to have any type of relationship without conflict.  There are practical arguments (You said you’d do the dishes - and you didn’t) to arguments about ideology (glass half full) and theology (insert any statement about God here).  

We are all so different.  

The point of relationship is connection.  It’s to reach intimacy with another person.  I’m not necessarily describing romantic relationships (although they certainly apply) - but all relationships.  We want to connect - we don’t want to divide.

And yet - how often do we make a stance which sacrifices our friendships - our relationships?  I see many posts on social networks that are so divisive - and the person posting it has no clue.  There are just so many argumentative statements and positions being made - it’s a bit crazy (especially now that it's a political season).  There’s lot of superiority going around.  Arrogance is not attractive.

There's that famous warning to not discuss politics and religion in social gatherings - especially during Thanksgiving.  The reason being? - we tend to destroy relationships when arguments like these arise.  Our will to be "right" can create horrible relational conflict - and none of us are immune to its lure.  We want to be right no matter the cost.  This leads to many broken relationships in which we would rather avoid the other person than connect with them.  I know that I do this - and I do it more often than I'd like to admit.

With those we love, it can even be worse.  Sometimes we’re so ignorantly stubborn - it’s embarrassing.  Personally - I have an “insert foot in mouth” disease - and half the time - I don’t even know I have it.  ugh. 

A negative tendency of mine is to go on the defensive.  There have been many times when I have felt judged when there might have been a genuine concern.  I wasn’t listening - I was defending my stance or position.  I was right - gosh darn it!  And I totally lost...

This happens way too often.  

God has concern for His kids - us.  How often do I perceive that concern as judgment - or condemnation?  He speaks the truth - yet - I want to plead my case - give excuses - I want to fight!   So I avoid Him altogether.

When - all He wants to do is connect…

Have a good day…

  

Snapshots

It’s been a while.

My last blog post was over a year ago and I feel like I’ve learned so much since then.  It’s time to write again.  So - I’m making a second go.

I recently re-read many of my posts.  It’s a strange thing to do - reading the ghost of myself from years ago.  Some posts were written in a place of pain and confusion.  Some were discoveries in clarity.  Some were just practicing the discipline of writing.  I'm glad I wrote all of them.  I liked that there was always a bit of light in shining through each one.  A few blog posts were actually a bit inspiring.  I needed to re-hear those words I'd written years ago.  I had a few moments where I thought “man - I need to do that again” - or some such thought.  Very strange... 

I don’t even remember where I was when I wrote.  I mean - I remembered many of the ideas - but not that places or emotions that I was going through at the time.  There were some ideas that think differently now.  “Truth” was one such entry.  I don’t see “Truth” the same way as I did back then.  I still enjoy reading my thoughts about it though - those thoughts led me to where I am today, but that was definitely “in the journey” type of blog post.  Truth is much bigger and better than subjectivity vs. objectivity.  (Nerd alert!)

My favorite surprise was when I told stories.  Not that I’m a good storyteller or anything - but the story blogs were a bit more entertaining than the others (with a few exceptions).  A lot of the blog posts were just moments in time - and were simply enjoyable for that.  Total snapshots of my life.  

So - that’s why I’ve come back.   It’s time to start taking snapshots again.  

So here's the first one...  

Have a great day!