Sunday, December 26, 2010

Still have a lifetime of learning ahead of me

It's amazing how after 20 plus years of living on this earth almost 30 (sigh), I still don't fully get my parents. There are cultural norms and traditions that are instilled when we're born and a lifetime of habits good/bad that we develop in our own way that are caused by our environment, surrounding culture, and family tradition. I think it's amazing that I have been able to function in so many different settings over the last 10 years, West Coast, East Coast, South, Midwest...I'm surprised nobody has punched me in the face because of all the different customs, traditions and rituals each place has to offer.

All of this to say...I'll never know it all and life is all about continuous learning. I honestly believe if you stop learning you might as well stop living. Knowledge is powerful, but it should never be used to make you feel above someone else, because each person has their own individual beliefs, and own understanding of how the world works. Who am I to say that my view is better than yours and my understanding of life is better than yours. Knowledge is about access, and if I have been privileged and blessed to gain it, how can I keep that against someone who hasn't had as easy a route?

This needs to be done in a delicate gray area of love. Love is complicated because it can be as soft and tender as an innocent newborn baby, but as sharp and stern as a father disciplining his son out of love. How do you balance when to give grace and not to give grace? If you give too much you're a pushover and people will walk all over you. If you don't give any at all you're a legalistic hard ass who no one likes. Life is constantly in the gray....there is no one right way to do things, but at the same time there are several wrong ways to do things as well. Awesome huh? I guess the cool thing about it all is that it allows God to give us a very unique individual experience in which we get to experience hardship, pain, and suffering, but also joy, laughter and most importantly LOVE.

Live, Learn, Love

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