STAND

So I’ve been thinking about the reasons that I have a higher level of respect for some and less for others. I’m not talking about judging others but some people just ooze character and qualities that demand respect. Obviously, morality, work ethic and other things come to mind, but I stumbled across another HUGE factor that influences how I feel.

I was standing in line at the post office recently listening to two women chattering on about politics, religion and their thoughts on the universe.

The line was looooooong.

For at least twenty to thirty minutes I listened as one of the women would throw out a theory for conversation and the other, always, cheerfully, accepted it as the truth. Oddly, the different theories often contradicted those offered just minutes before. The woman offering the different schools of thought made a statement that baffled me. She said she’d come to the conclusion that there couldn’t be just one truth, that many theories were right. I laughed to myself at the contradiction. If you say that there is no absolute truth, then that statement in itself can’t be absolutely true. I hope I don’t offend anyone with this post but my point is this; if you don’t believe in something, then in all actuality you believe in nothing. The truth never contradicts itself.

This doesn’t mean that everyone has to agree. That’s what makes this country great. We all have the right to believe and stand for whatever we choose.

I have friends on both sides of the political spectrum and many with varying views on religion. I don’t always agree with them. In fact, a few of us strongly disagree on certain points regularly but I love and respect them immensely for standing up for something, for feeling passionately about something. I love their zeal. They are some of the dearest people in my life. I have two cousins and a good friend all with different theologies than the one I adhere to as the truth. One is Mormon, one a Jehovah’s Witness and one Jewish. We all have a different idea of who Jesus is but….all three of them are truly, fully living and walking in their faith because they believe whole heartedly (as I do in mine) that this is the undisputed truth. Such respect I have for these three strong, beautiful women.

I also have friends who are as far to the left as I am to the right with our political views and we’ve had some pretty heated discussions on hot issues that might separate and divide other friendships, but I’ll tell you what, we’ve also spent many years investing in these friendships and we truly understand why they have taken their stand and mutually, they understand us. This compassion and understanding has bonded us rather than separated us.

Gandhi once said “To believe in something and not to live it is dishonest”. I would be totally dishonest if I said that I wouldn’t love to sway others to my way of thinking, but that is of course because I deeply believe it. I don't mind disagreeing so much, but what I have a hard time with are those who are so apathetic that there is nothing in the world they feel worthy of standing for, nothing worth fighting for. There’s no passion. They’ve given up their right to choose and become nothing more than drones.

Historically there have been many military battles rapidly lost when the enemy, advancing found no resistance, consuming their foe like fuel to the fire. If this trend continues, surely we will watch our freedom sift through our hands like sand.

So let’s agree to disagree if we must, but STAND…..FIGHT…… Believe in something. Rejoice in our freedom. Live what you believe because there are those in this world who do, and they’re just itching to take our choices away from us.