Relentless Humanization

Ok I've had a couple opportunities to write lately and wanted to share them with you. This first one was written as a devotion on our church Facebook group and was a reflection following Sunday worship in which Pastor Chris shared a message titled "Love Your Enemies" based on Matthew 5:43-48 and using the movie How to Train Your Dragon as an illustration. (The service is here, and worth watching https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=656995488285956) Here are my thoughts:

I wanted to continue the conversation about loving our enemies from Pastor Chris’s message yesterday. Relentless humanization is something I have been practicing in these divided days. It’s not easy, but it is necessary in order to love our enemies. We need to look behind actions for the emotions that are driving us. As I look around, I see a lot of people acting and reacting from pain and fear.

Fear of change. Fear of nothing changing. Fear of losing jobs and a struggling economy. Fear of coronavirus. Fear of the unknown. Fear of not having the answers. Fear of getting it wrong. Fear of losing those we love. The pain of loneliness. The pain of losing loved ones. The pain of accepting our mistakes and failures. The pain of constant change and uncertainty. And so much more.

Don’t get me wrong; these fears and pains are real and there are good reasons for many of them. The problem comes when we allow our fear and pain to be a point of disconnection instead of connection. When we are living in fear and pain, we often shut down and act on instinct. You may have heard this called fight or flight, and recently I have also heard freeze added to this. When we are operating in these emotional states, some of us are wired to lash out and fight, others to run away from the problem and pretend it doesn’t exist, and still others of us freeze, not knowing how to respond at all. I tend to fall in that last category. What each of us need to figure out is how to get ourselves beyond that “fight, flight, or freeze” place in our minds so that we can see beyond ourselves.

I didn’t have a chance to watch How to Train Your Dragon before the service yesterday, but I watched it yesterday afternoon. In the scene Pastor Chris described in his message when Hiccup decides not to kill the dragon he has caught, I find it interesting that it is the fear that he acknowledges in himself and sees in the dragon. See something I am learning in these days is that I need to accept my own weaknesses in order to be able to accept them in others.

I need to accept that I am afraid, so that I can see how others’ fear impacts their actions.

I need to accept that I am not perfect and I am still learning, so that I can have grace when others make mistakes or don't know things I take for granted.

I need to have the humility to accept that I don’t have all the answers, so that I can be willing to listen and learn from others.

I need to accept that I have a story and a history that inform my point of view, so that I can recognize that not everyone has experienced life the way I have.

I need to accept my gifts and abilities, as well as my weaknesses, in order to appreciate the gifts and abilities that others have, and accept their weaknesses.

I need to accept that I am a child of God, so that I can see the God in others.

In short, I need to accept my own humanity, so that I see others as human first.

I was recently introduced to this band, The Brilliance, and have been listening to them frequently ever since. I hope you will take time today to listen to this song and to reflect on your own journey, on your own humanity and the humanity of others. Ask for forgiveness where you need to. Pray for eyes to see the emotion and the humanity behind actions and beliefs you don’t understand. Look for the roots of your own points of view and be willing to challenge them. Listen to people who have different experiences from you with no intention besides understanding. As it says in the song “Broken people we can be made whole…as we lay down our weapons, open up our hearts. Love is breaking us, love remaking us.” Amen.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

In need of ideas...

So today it is 45 days until my 30th birthday... or as I have referred to it sometimes, the 1st anniversary of my 29th birthday. But the 6th graders found that confusing and thought it meant I was 58, so that was not ideal... Anyway, the point behind bring all this up is I want to come up with a list of 30 things to accomplish in the 30 days leading up to my birthday. It works out well because exactly 30 days before my birthday is the quarter marathon. Other things already on the list are party like I'm 29, and moving to my new apartment. I took the plunge and joined pinterest today, so I have also been getting ideas there, though I have not started my goal list yet. Some thoughts I have from pinterest include trying a new recipe and creating some of my own art work. But I need more ideas - so let's brainstorm! What ideas do you have?
Read more

"Don't let me become an elephant"

Image
I am in love with the new Tenth Avenue North single, "Losing."  If you haven't heard it yet, I highly recommend checking it out. This part particularly sticks out to me:  "Why do we think that hate's gonna change their heart? We're up in arms over wars that don't need to be fought But pride won't let us lay our weapons on the ground We build our bridges up, but just to burn them down We think pain is owed apologies and then it'll stop But truth be told it doesn't matter if they're sorry or not Freedom comes when we surrender to the sound Of Mercy and Your Grace, Father, send Your angels down (singin') Oh, Father, won't you forgive them? They don't know what they've been doing (oh, no) Oh, Father, give me grace to forgive them Cause I feel like the one losing I feel like I've been losing" (Emphasis mine) After my blog post the other day, I was thinking about what we, as the church, are doing.
Read more

Compassion

Matthew 9:36-38 When Jesus saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field." Today I am beginning the 30 hour famine. I get to eat lunch, and then I will not have anything but juice and gum until tomorrow at dinner. Considering the craving to simply nibble I have had the past week, that will likely be quite challenging, though the fact that I will be kept busy will certainly help. The point of the 30 hour famine is to give the kids the experience of what it is like to be hungry as they raise money to help the hungry. And the point I always emphasize to them, is that they always know there is an end point - we will have a delicious meal of baked pasta at 6pm on Saturday. The people we are trying to help, those who are actually without food, t
Read more