We're All Just People

We're all just people

Driving down the road the other day, I got behind a car that was going "too slow" for my tastes. I wasn't in a hurry and they were driving the speed limit but I found it slightly irritating. As I was musing, I realized the two people in the car in front of me reminded me of two dear friends from Keswick. I knew it wasn't them - it wasn't their car - but he was tall and she barely could be seen above the seat. Immediately, my heart softened towards the couple in the car in front of me. It occurred to me that if it were my friends I would not be irritated with them at all. I know them as people. I love them.

Rewind about 3 weeks. The Lord has been working on my heart to be real, open, honest, transparent, etc. To press in for greater intimacy with other believers and with Him. I have a friend who is ever so longsuffering with me. She has tried to tell me on numerous occasions how other people see me. Others, especially women, have repeatedly indicated that I am intimidating, and they guard themselves around me. Frankly, I am befuddled, very befuddled. I keep thinking that if they knew me as a person, they wouldn't feel that way.

Rewind about 8 weeks. In a recent, long-standing conflict with a friend, we were discussing our differences. My friend asked me why I didn't just come tell them when I disagreed. I said, "I do, but I come with fear and trembling. I lose sleep over it, my heart races and I get knots in my stomach." In that instant, the other person's face changed and they sat back in the chair. My friend said, "That changes everything - I never realized that is how you felt, I haven't been seeing you as a person." Since that time, we have had no conflict.

Fast forward to today. I was sharing with a co-worker this 'revelation,' that if we saw each other as people, perhaps we would be less likely to be irritated frustrated, etc., with one another. He abruptly got up, in jest said, "you need to stop talking," and as he left my office said, "Thanks a lot, I need to go make something right." The next time you are irritated, frustrated, etc. - Stop. Take a moment and consider the other person really is a person, and choose to make things right."You shall love your neighbor as yourself." Matthew 22:39 -- Diane Hunt is Director of Addiction Recovery Ministries at America's KESWICK