Jonathots Daily Blog
(3048)
Dividing people is easy.
Just get them to focus on their differences, and their prejudices will do the rest.
But uniting people is equally simple.
Turn the conversation toward our common humanity and let our sense of humor draw us closer.
As I finished up eleven weeks in Central Pennsylvania, I headed off to Ebensburg en route to begin my tour in Michigan.
Every little community in America touts some piece of uniqueness, or sometimes even insists that it has a personality unto itself. I have absolutely no idea why we want to distinguish ourselves by our quirks and profiles.
But once you break through that initial crustiness, what you find are human beings. As human beings, they have three basic natures:
1. They are concerned for themselves.
2. They are concerned for what is directly around them.
3. But it doesn’t take a whole lot for them to realize that in order to get Numbers 1 and 2 means they need to be concerned about others.
I loved my time in Ebensburg, Pennsylvania.
The audiences were not easy. Having an insulated sense of community, they wanted to look on Janet and myself as strangers, but we popped out of that box and offered big hugs.
So by the time we got to the end of our programs and were ready to pack up, they invited us to a luncheon. We shared with them that we needed to hit the road, because we had a two-hour drive to Youngstown, Ohio. dividing people, prejudices, uniting people, sense of humor, commonality,
They sweetly accepted our explanation, but then they came back a second time and invited us again. Why? I suppose if I were bratty, I could say they were being pushy. But that wasn’t the case.
In the three hours we were with them, a connection was made–and they just wanted us to know that they were fully aware of it and treasured it.
We gently declined again, and all at once one of the sweet Ebensburg souls said, “Why don’t we make you some plates to go? You have to eat. What is it you want?”
It was so moving. Perseverant love.
They wanted us to eat their food, and we needed to eat food, even though we could not stay–so they came up with a plan.
They bagged us up dinners, complete with two cold bottles of water.
As I drove down the highway enjoying my salad with just the right dressing and all the little choices they put on my plate, I considered perseverant love.
The church is in a position to become the only resource in America that has an open door policy and offers perseverant love. It will begin when we stop studying the Bible in abstract, but instead, study human life, find out what’s really going on with people, and then come back to the Gospels to unearth what Jesus says about it.
That’s the good news.
The better news is that when we have this perseverant love, it’s a lot easier to comprehend that somebody could feel that way toward us, too.
he producers of jonathots would humbly request a yearly subscription donation of $10 for this wonderful, inspirational opportunity
Jonathan’s Latest Book Release!
PoHymn: A Rustling in the Stagnant
Click here to get your copy now!
Jonathots Daily Blog 