Seek to Understand

 "The quieter you become, the more you can hear." Ram Dass

Yesterday morning I learned that the monks route had shifted and they would be walking within a half mile of my house. Peanut and I donned our walking shoes and walked up to see them walk by.

As we waited the hour in the gas station parking lot, we met so many kind people.

Peanut and I had talked about how the monks are so concerned about the divisiveness in our country that they took to action.

By putting one foot in front of the other, they are bringing awareness.

As I perused the internet last night, I learned that the rest of our community did not greet the monks with such respect and kindness.

There were people with megaphones "preaching" at them while they were talking. People with signs filled with hate. People yelling about how they were going to hell.

To say I'm disappointed in our community is an understatement.

But what I'm really saddened by is that our community represented themselves this way in the name of Jesus.

We apparently don't read the same Gospels.

If I was faithless at one of these events, I'm given the option of Buddhism which is promoting peace, love, joy, kindness, respect. And Christianity which is promoting fear, hate, judgement.

This was not a "let me tell you about my Jesus" through my respectful actions and kind words vibe.

Perhaps people are going out in droves to see the monks because they are desperate for something that looks different than the Christian Nationalism being displayed today.

In our home we have a mantra - "Seek to understand."

We want our kids to be curious and not judgmental.

Don't assume someone doesn't love Jesus because they went to see the monks.

Be curious. Seek to understand.

Look for similarities.

From a curious posture, we allow room for connections.

If you want to someone to follow Jesus, you are going to have to invest in their life. You are going to have to begin by seeking to understand. Where do they come from? What religious experiences do they have? What church trauma is in their baggage?

If you are trying to sell someone on a faith based on forgiveness and love, starting with judgement and fear seems like the wrong path.

Mama Warriors, I, like the monks, have deep concerns about the status of our community and the larger nation.

We have become a community that focuses on differences rather than similarities. We've become a community that focuses on judgement rather than curiosity. We've become a community that is breeding hate instead of love.

And thus, we are raising kids who don't know how to have hard conversations. We are raising kids who don't look first for connections, but rather begin with judgements. We are raising kids that focus more on being right than righteous.

Let's seek to understand.

Let's raise kids who seek to understand.