R-E-S-P-E-C-T

Tonight I ran into the Dollar Store to buy materials to make my mother-in-law's birthday gift (I'm not cheap...Well, yes, I am, but it's what she wants; I promise!). I was at the end of a very long line to pay for my items and heard the adorable, young (maybe 17 or 18 year-old) cashier ask every customer she rang up if they'd like to donate a dollar to buy a needy child's school supply. As far as I could tell, each customer before me said, "No", and went on about his business. By the time I reached the girl, her voice sounded noticeably defeated, but it didn't keep her from doing her job. "Would you like to donate a dollar to buy a needy child's school supply?" Honestly, I said "Yes" because I felt sorry for her, not the needy children, but it didn't seem to matter. Her face lit up like a Christmas tree as she thanked me, reached over to pull a cheap calculator out of a little basket of equally-cheap merchandise, and drop it in a marked shipping box. I started a casual conversation with her about how long the calculator might actually last, and she laughed. Then she said something that's stayed with me all night and into this morning. She said, "You wouldn't believe how rude people can be when you ask them to donate a dollar. All they really have to say if they don't want to is, 'no' or 'no, thanks', but I've had people get mad at me." Apparently, she'd gotten an earful more than once about the state of the economy and unemployment and how people wouldn't be shopping at the Dollar Store if they could afford to donate a school supply to someone else's kid.

I know a man--a believer--who got gas at the same place every week for years. One day, the gas station was sold to a Muslim man. Think what you will, but the Christian admitted to me that he initially considered changing gas stations because he felt uncomfortable with the middle-easterner and strongly disagreed with his religious views, but he was strongly convicted not to do so. Instead, he started going into the store to pay for his gas instead of paying at the pump, and often he would buy a cup of coffee and spend a few minutes talking to the owner about business or the weather or whatever. He did this for two years, and the men became friends. Eventually, the Christian went on a Mission Trip for a couple of weeks and was missed at the gas station. Upon his return, the business owner inquired about his trip, and my friend had the opportunity to tell him about his relationship with Christ that compelled him to share God's love with others. It was a seed planted and, approximately a year after that, the Muslim was led to faith in Christ by my friend.

By now you're wondering what the connection is between these two stories. Well, if you know me, you know that I tend to think in tangents. My Dollar Store cashier got me thinking about all the political and social positioning going on these days and how differently people are responding to it. We're polarized by hot issues like healthcare and homosexuality and--Lord, help us!--chicken sandwiches. There's no doubt we each have our own beliefs and values and opinions but, at the end of the day and at our core, I believe we're all fundamentally the same...in desperate need of love and grace, desiring to be treated with dignity and respect. I'm not suggesting Christians negotiate truth. I'm just saying that, if I want people to repect my values whether they agree with them or not, then I must do the same. I can't expect the world to lead the way on this one or even reciprocate. I'm promised in 1 Cor. 2:14 that "The person without the Spirit does not accept the things that come from the Spirit of God but considers them foolishness, and cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit." These next words, written by the brother of another friend of mine several months ago, also express what I'm thinking pretty succintly.

"...When people fall in love with Jesus, they are compelled, through the work of the Holy Spirit, to change their life. When a nation is full of people who have met Jesus and are a new creation because of it, murder rates drop, people stop hating each other, people start embracing generosity instead of greed, marriages survive pride and selfishness, children grow up with mothers and fathers in the home. And that nation’s policies will naturally start to reflect its values without the need for lobbying or picketing or fighting."

I don't know. I'm just a woman who can't sleep and ends up thinking too much. You mull it over and decide for yourself. I promise to respect your opinion either way.

~Maria