- From 1 Corinthians 12
Every angry political thread, on Social Media today, is because of a failure of people to appreciate differences. I was just thinking, this morning, about a friend that loves to stick a digital finger in the eyes of his political adversaries, every chance he gets. Of course, his attitude will be to elevate everything done or said by Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer, and to mock and debase President Trump.
Why can't people see that these are personal attacks on others, not the least of which are . . . friends?
I want to begin asking them a question like this:
You're talking about people that start out by not trusting Governor Whitmer. They voted against her. They believe she enjoys having power over others, and does not have the best interests of people at heart. What do you expected them to do? How do you respond to things Trump does, and why should his supporters react to you, any differently than you do, to them?
Diversity is either a good thing, or not. If it's good, then we should express our valuing of it, by making some uncomfortable adjustments to our own attitude. If it's not good, then don't go around advocating for it. In reality, the truth about diversity is somewhere between the two extremes, which makes it even more important that we err on the side of listening to the other perspective.
What do you expect, indeed? Your political opponents are driven by the same things you are: adherence to cherished principles, and a level of distrust of their opponents.
Give them some slack.
Let's look at a list of gifts of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit animates and motivates the Church. Our response should be in the application of whichever of these gifts we have been given.
- Wisdom
- Knowledge
- Faith
- Healing
- Miracles
- Prophecy
- Discernment
- Tongues
- Interpretation of Tongues
There is a gift of Healing, which in our present time is talking about doctors, and all people in the health field. This is a Scientific gift, as are possibly the gifts of Knowledge and Discernment. But it should not be assumed that a person with great Scientific Knowledge can match that with an equal portion of Wisdom. I have known young people, lacking even a BA, with a gift of Wisdom. They just seem to be able to mix together all of the competing inputs into a problem, and to advise a win-win solution that would work.
The Gifts of Tongues, and Interpretation of Tongues, may be referring to an ability to interact with people that are different. It suggests that when there are people speaking two different virtual languages (i.e. Conservative versus Liberal), we need to be careful who we are putting forward to interact with that other side. Our cultural problems today are exacerbated by the preponderance of people that are poor communicators to adversaries. They're just stirring the pot and making it hard for the rest of us to work together. We need a person with discernment to come in, and help navigate the difference between groups of people, so that the excellent communicators can bring us even closer together.
Miracles and Healing . . . these are two good ones. The first thing to get out of the way is our doubts that Miracles still happen, and that a person could be healed through means that are not according to Science. Some people recover from covid, and others don't, for no apparent scientific reason. Call it what you will . . . but the suggestion that prayer and a simple healing touch works, needs to be affirmed. Miracles and Healing are simply a very Scientific conclusion, that there are some things Science does not understand yet. And we need to be okay with that.
There are volumes of ways to weigh and compare the spiritual gifts. But they are all different . . . they all serve different needs. And if people have different gifts, it stands to reason that they have different perspectives. We've got to remember that and embrace those other views. (I would love if a thread got started on this blog, in discussion of these fascinating concepts!)
I want to end with another application of the concept. Not everyone is going to consider the covid infection rate, or death toll, with equal urgency. That too is going to have to be okay. The person that does not have the same level of outrage as you, is not necessarily a bad person. They just have their own cause, or need, which they consider equally as urgent. Perhaps they're focused on helping their displaced employees get through things. Maybe they are concerned about their diabetic child, or their elderly relative living in a New York City nursing home. We can each only handle so much stress from outrageous things.
You take what upsets you, and do something to help. And give others some space.
Different gifts. Different perspectives. Different activities. Different causes.
It's all good.
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