Loving in the difference

Lord, help me to love all people, even if they think differently from me.

As I woke up Saturday morning, that’s all that my heart could utter after recalling all of the actions of some in recent days, weeks, months, and years. Yes, for some reason, this past week was a fertile playing ground for my mind as it dredged up words and deeds of students, colleagues, and family who had hurt or offended me in the past. I can hear the wise words of my Love right now, “can you control it/them? No? Then don’t worry about it.” He’s right, yet still my heart always seeks peace.

It’s not that I want everyone to think like me, but in a perfect world, everyone would be kind to one another, embrace the differences that make us unique, and find a way to appreciate it all. I know, I sound like a naive woman who believes that fairytales and unicorns would make the world better. That woman who clings onto hope with her dying breath. However, maybe I am not wrong…

Last week Sunday the Lord blessed me to see 37 years of life. I still get emotional as I think about this because I have buried loved ones that did not live to be this age. Each gray hair, winkle, stretch mark, and random mole on my body is a badge of honor that I proudly wear because I recognize just how good God has been to me. Are some things different about my body today than they were years ago? Yes; I can’t eat dairy or meat and since I no longer have a gallbladder, greasy food is not my friend. Yet I am still grateful for what I do have and for the fact that God has given me a new way to appreciate the beautiful life that I have today.

Understand this, I have never said (nor will I ever say) that my life is PERFECT. What I do boldly declare is that it is beautiful, even amidst the scars and the dirt. Choosing to see the beauty doesn’t negate the difficulty, it just rejoices in the good.

“Loving in the difference” is the term that God whispered to me as I waited at the intersection of Gratitude and Confusion. Truly desperately to process how my genuine concern for others is often misconstrued or returned void. While I am grateful for what I do have, I’m always trying to understand the WHYs of what’s around me. I ask questions to delve deeper and when I delve deeper, I often learn more than I may have truly been able to handle in the moment.

Why is there so much hate?
Why all of the violence?
Why?
Why?
Why?

In my youth, WHY was always my favorite question. In my adulthood, WHY has become my navigational tool towards equity and justice. Loving in the difference will never mean that I am the same as those around me or that we have experienced the same things. It will never mean that I want this world to be bland, completely devoid of diversity and uniqueness. It will never mean that I want everyone to think alike, love the same, or even love the same things. Loving in the difference means that even with the millions of things that could separate us, divide us, and break us, I am choosing to love.

I will always choose love.
Love wins.
Even when the fight is stacked against it.
Love wins.
Even when hate seems so prevalent.
Love wins.
Even when it is silenced.
Love wins.
And it will always win because…
God is love. And, love is God.

Be blessed.