I was walking out of the YMCA after working out today. At first, I didn’t notice anything except the beautiful weather and my need to hurry on with my day. There were two women laughing about something that seemed to catch them both as very funny just ahead of me. A few more yards further and I find myself not understanding a word coming out of their mouths. They were speaking a language foreign to me. All of a sudden, my perspective changed.

Before the language difference emerged, they were simply two ladies walking out of the Y…friends…daughters…somebody’s mom probably…my neighbors. Now they were people I felt an immediate distance from.

And it is my fault…it is my hangup…it is my perspective that needs realigned.

Why do we (I) let the few differences between us create chasms when they may simply be slight indentations in the sand? Why does it change the tenor of a conversation when you say “I am a liberal” or “conservative” or “born again” or “Methodist” or “Baptist”…you get the picture I am sure.

There is much more that unites us than divides us if we are honest. There is much more that we can celebrate about one another than criticize. We are much more alike than different.