Many of you are familiar with Jesus’ sermon on the mount and remember that portion in which Jesus pronounces, “Blessed are the peacemakers. . .” I once saw a comedy sketch in which some men were far back in the crowd that day. One asked, “What did he say?” Another responded: “‘Blessed are the cheese makers.’ But it’s not meant literally; he means all makers of dairy products.”
Not long ago, I received one of those forwarded email messages with an attachment. You know, one of those items that someone else just knows you will like. The attachment was named An Interview With God. It was a series of beautiful landscapes, with the words of an imagined “interview with God” laid over the pictures.
During the “interview,” the interviewer asks God: “As a parent, what are some of life’s lessons you want your children to learn?”
This was one of God’s responses: “To learn that two people can look at the same thing and see it differently.”
Why is this such an important “life lesson”? Simply because it matters to God how his children get along, and seeing things differently can be a source of misunderstanding and confl ict unless we understand the reasons why it is so.
God’s children not only see things differently, but hear things differently, feel things differently, perceive identical things differently. The Gospel of John, chapter 12, tells how a voice came from heaven, telling Jesus that God’s name would be glorified. But not everyone heard the same thing. Some of the people standing by said they heard thunder, while other people said an angel had spoken.
When a minister preaches on being faithful spouses and saving marriages, it is heard one way by a loving couple, and quite differently by a spouse who has been physically abused for years.
When a minister preaches on the politics of war, it is heard one way by the campus- demonstrating, peace activist college student, and quite another way by a proud parent who has a child serving in the armed forces.
A panhandler at a busy intersection is seen one way by someone who has just finished a 12-hour shift, and a differing way by the panhandler’s mother who happens by in the next car.
When the check-out girl says, “Have a wonderful day,” her words are heard one way by someone who is going home to her family, and a sadder way by someone who has just come from the funeral of a loved one.
When the scripture is read, “Sell all you have, give the money to the poor, and follow me,” it is heard one way by a “Mother Theresa”, and quite a different way by a billionaire.
We see the same things differently and hear the same things dif ferently because what we have heard in our lives, what we have thought and felt and experienced, affect what we hear and see; and we have all thought, felt and experienced things differently.
We can get along better by being more understanding of the reasons for our differences. A nd that’s all they are: differences. Someone is not your enemy because what they see differs from what you see. Someone is not your adversary because what they hear contrasts from what you hear. Someone is not your antagonist because what they feel is not the same as what you feel.
And it is alright—it is acceptable—indeed, it may be good to allow, and perhaps learn from those differences. What did the apostle Paul say about true love? “Love does not insist on its own way.”
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