Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone. – Romans 12:14-18

So let’s just stay in Romans 12 (yesterday’s post feature the previous few verses).

This is a photograph of a boy at full speed. What’s interesting about this “still” image is that it’s not still. Geoffrey has come down the driveway and is hurtling across the street, moving at a fair clip.

The point is that, sometimes, a picture does not frame the entire story (or – and this is mind-bending – a story may not frame the entire picture). However, the way that we both share and consume information too often assumes the entire opposite. We think – and then act – as if we have all the information, when the truth is that we only have what has been curated for us and sometimes that is only a split-second of reality (1/121 of a second for the photo in question).

The real story could turn out to be wildly different depending on who is behind the camera, who writes the captions, and the ideological lens through which we are currently viewing the world.

“Well this is all I need to know!” we may insist. Truth is it may be all we want to know.

This all sounds extremely disturbing – it is, and potentially hopeless – but it is not. Fact is we have a few things that we can be doing to help. Here they are (you may want to jot this down):

• Exercise basic intellectual curiosity. Research. Clarification. Due diligence. Especially viewing through someone else’s lens – standing in their shoes – hearing their story.
• If we consistently find that everything we hear and read neatly backs up and supports our “world view” then we owe it to ourselves – and others – to get more information!
• Respond to disagreements with kindness, compassion, grace, understanding and mercy.
• Imagine – and practice – the presence of Christ in every interaction we have.
• Let the scripture (above, from Romans 12) be our guide in terms of how we relate to the world.

Peace – and I mean that now more than ever – DEREK

Bless those who persecute you. Don’t curse them; pray that God will bless them. Be happy with those who are happy, and weep with those who weep. Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all! Never pay back evil with more evil. Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable. Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.