Don't Assume

Don't Just Assume - Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Always say what you feel, and do what you think is good and right. If I knew that today would be the last time I’d see you, I would hug you tight and pray the Lord be the keeper of your soul. If I knew that this would be the last time you pass through this door, I’d embrace you, kiss you, and call you back for one more. If I knew that this would be the last time I would hear your voice, I’d take hold of each word to be able to hear it over and over again. If I knew this is the last time I see you, I’d tell you I love you, and would not just assume foolishly you know it already.

Just some thoughts as I read this from my DailyDig this morning... I have a warped sense of identity, of who I am and of what the people around me are here for. In my selfishness, I see others as means to my ends, not really sensing their own special uniqueness and identity in this world that is not mine. I want to see others as individuals, loved of God, called according to His purposes and ways to settle with Him and bring Him glory in fellowship together.

I don't want to agreeably disagree anymore because I don't want to hold onto a philosophical principle so tightly that I actually start seeing my friends as enemies. We can work these things out together, but without the time and effort of maintaining the peace that should be inherent in Christ, I don't think it will happen. Disagreements should be challenges to strengthen our bonds, not wedges that push us apart. My attitudes towards others reveal more than I care to share in this world of televised reality, and I need to give people the benefit of the doubt that they're not trying to run me through with their words when we debate things of ultimate importance.

I need to be a person who's open to other people, while finding a place of community among people who are open to other people. It's not about me and my feelings, but about us and finding a place for our collective mission to do what God graces us to do together. Ultimately, the focus is on Him - more than on others, definitely more than on myself. Am I pleasing God by loving others, serving others, reaching out in fellowship to others? Am I giving the people around me the room to see Him for themselves, the room to grow and search and work out their own salvation in community with me and the other folks around us?

Just a few thoughts... if I knew this was the last time we met, I'd hope that we would part as friends.