Symphonies in Heaven

One of my life mottos is that "everyone has a story". This motto is not my own. My friend Wes used to use it all the time when we hung out in Shanghai. Being around him taught me how to give people a chance - even the most seemingly boring or uninteresting people. Meeting his acquaintances showed me how to appreciate the myriad of personalities around me and how these differences make each person both fascinating and beautiful.

This is why I love the sermon series that Pastor Danny has been preaching lately. Entitled "Everybody Has a Song to Sing", he has been talking about how we need to dive deep into ourselves to understand how God has made each of us unique. Only by living a life that fully leverages the individual qualities and passions that God has instilled in us can we be the most fulfilled. By fully accepting and being the person that God created me to be, I am glorifying Him.

The only way to build society as God intended it is to be quick to appreciate and slow to judge. Unfortunately, many people, including Christians, prefer to judge first and forego the effort of finding positive characteristics in those around them. I, too, am guilty of this. Healthy community stems from learning to love those who are different from us. This learning takes effort, but, more often than not, even the most valiant efforts are quickly thwarted when damaging assumptions are prematurely attached to those we hardly know. So, instead of impatiently fabricating them, we should give people a chance to share their own stories. Learn to listen and take genuine interest.

Only through this transparency can we encourage true fellowship by embracing our neighbors for who they really are.