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01/04/2009 Richard's Ramblings - April

I remember watching some of the T.V. shows years ago in which feuds were so deeply entrenched in the habits of warring families that it was impossible to ever sort out how the feud began, let alone why it continued.

Both sides of these feuds were fundamentally convinced that it was the other side which was at fault. They seemed equally convinced that their action of retaliation against their opponents was not only justified but necessary in order to ensure their own survival.

Thankfully on the T.V. shows the harm done by one to the other was rarely too serious. However in real life similar situations have existed. In real life the damage inflicted is often much more serious, even at times extending to the taking of lives.

I doubt too many of us are involved in the kinds of feuds I am referring to here. They are the things which make good comedies, and that’s as far as it goes for most of us. However, we may find ourselves reacting to our perceptions of others who cross our paths based upon past experience rather than what we know of these particular individuals.

Sometimes we are not even aware of the feelings out of which we act. Sometimes we are oblivious to the message we convey to the other person or people, and wonder why they react against us.

Two things seem to me to lie at the forefront of the way in which we should (and could) respond to people we meet, however strange they may at first seem to us.

Firstly, respect. It makes a whole lot of difference to the ways in which we treat one another if we come from the basic premise that we hold respect for each person, regardless of who or what they may have been or appear now to be.

The second thing relates to our expectations. Do we actually expect to see something worthwhile in the other person, or to learn from them something worthwhile?

Everyone has something to teach you. Everyone has something to teach me. It’s all a matter of our perspective, and our willingness to see things in new and fresh ways.

Rev Richard Johnston
April 2009

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