The other evening my roommate and I were in the kitchen cleaning up. As she was cleaning out a coffee tumbler, we had the following conversation….
Aubree: “Oh, this smells sour. I think I should throw it away!”
Me: “Don’t throw it out! We can wash it with bleach or something.”
Aubree: “Um…okay. I mean, are you actually going to do that? I just feel like people say they are going to do these kind of things and they never get done.”
Me: “I mean, I wasn’t really planning on using it, but I will…”
Aubree: “…..oookay.”
Fast forward a few days later…
Aubree: “Morgan, what do you want me to do with this sponge under the sink?”
Me: Why on earth is she asking me about a sponge… “Uh, what?”
Aubree: “I put the sponge under the sink, because it’s sour.”
Me: “Okay…”
Aubree: “You said you wanted to wash it with bleach or something and not to throw it away, so I put it under there for you.”
*Insert huge revelation here.*
In case you didn’t catch it, I thought she meant the coffee mug and she thought I meant the sponge.
I was frustrated with Aubree, because I felt like she was giving me a little attitude, over not wanting her to toss a coffee mug. Aubree was frustrated with me, because she couldn’t believe that I would actually put that much effort into saving a nasty dish sponge. Neither of us were wrong in our opinions. We were just viewing the situation through two opposite angles.
Perception is everything. Sometimes we don’t understand why a certain person believes or acts how they do. Which can cause a lot of frustration.
Month 1 on my race, my team got into a deep theological debate. The way we handled it was probably our biggest mistake as a team. It hurt me a lot and made me shut down to opposing opinions a bit. Each side couldn’t get past thinking that they were right.
Months later, I can now say that I am thankful for that ordeal. The conversation actually opened a door for God to reveal things to me that I couldn’t wrap my head around before. I began to let the Spirit show me truths in what each side believed and I was able to get a better picture. I still couldn’t tell you exactly who was right in the whole debacle, but I don’t think the resolution of it was the point. I’m starting to see that it was more about the opportunity to seek God in a new way and in a new light.
We all have different views on things and that’s okay. Just like two people can read the same scripture verse and get two totally different opinions of it. It doesn’t mean someone is right and someone is wrong, it just means they are looking at it in a different way.
Speak what you see, listen to the opinions of others, seek God, and let it sit or let it go.
I really believe that’s the key to respecting and loving others well. The fact of the matter is, we might all be right, through our own angle.
When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.
