Love through Understanding

 

Something that has been on mind recently is the deep complexity of human beings. As I walk around campus, I pass by so many people. Some people look and act like me and so many more don’t. Every person I pass has a life just as complex and complicated as mine. They’ve each had their own experiences that have shaped them into who they are today. Each of these experiences has changed how they think and how they act. They change trivial things like what kind of music they like to important life decisions, like when to have a baby. And I don’t truly understand the people I pass on campus. I don’t even truly understand my mom and I’ve literally known her my entire life. It’s impossible to even begin to understand someone’s behavior if you don’t know about the experiences they’ve had in this life. 

I think that’s why it’s so important to get to know people and the experiences they’ve had and the burdens they bear. Without knowing people, their differences can seem intimidating, when we shed light upon them, we often find that we are more similar than we realize. For example, I lived in south Florida for a year and a half. I met people from all over the world. From Jamaica to Portugal. I talked and laughed with college students from all walks of life. I learned Portuguese so I could better meet and relate with Brazilians. I grew to love them all, even though their lives were so different than mine. I took the time to talk to them about what they love and about the challenges in their lives. Compassion and understanding grew between us. Something I learned during my time there was people’s lives are often more difficult than we can imagine. They are going through challenges that we can’t even fathom.  

This is something I’m striving to remember when I encounter people I don’t understand. It’s good to remember that they have different life experiences than me. Specific events have taken place in their lives that have shaped them. I should never judge people because I don’t know their whole story. 

Doing so has only been detrimental to society. Throughout history, groups of people who were different than the majority have been ostracized from society. Just like the wise Phil Colins once said, “They just don’t trust what they can’t explain.” Human beings fear the unknown and when someone is different, we tend to fear that as well. But we’re all human beings, children of God and I think a huge part of the purpose of this life is to love each other. In fact, it’s the 2nd great commandment, to love one another. With all this being said, we can love one another without condoning actions we don’t agree with. We can love someone while also disagreeing with them. However, what is not appropriate is belittling or attacking someone because of their differences. We can all live in peace and love while being different from one another. 

Overall, in a world full of so many different and diverse people, we need to love. We are commanded to love. We are commanded not to judge. We need to take time to sit down and build connections with one another. We need to understand what makes them, them. We need to love them even if we don’t agree. The world is full of so much hate and our society is more divided than ever. I believe the only way to really fix it is through building love through understanding. So, while I still can’t completely understand all the strangers I meet during a given day, I can do my best to start to build my love for them.