Walls

I sat next to a delightful woman in church today, someone I had met and chatted with, but today we actually were making a connection.  We talked about the value of small groups in our large Sunday School classes in order to really get to know folks beyond the brief interactions on Sunday.  Just as the processional music was starting, she said,

"You know, I think I could love most anyone if I got to know them

...uh...except, perhaps, Hillary."

With the music now swelling, we turned to sing,

Come, Christians, join to sing Allelulia! Amen!

Loud praise to Christ our King; Allelulia! Amen!

Let all, with heart and voice,

Before His throne rejoice;

Praise is His gracious choice:  Allelulia! Amen!

I sang, but my heart was heavy, and my mind was spinning the following:

"Oh, drat! 

And just when I thought we were making a connection...

oh well, mark that one off."

I'll admit, it was well into the end of the third verse when I realized I could have so easily said exactly what she did, except I would have placed another name where she had placed Hillary's. No saints here! 

So, when the service ended, we hugged and said how glad we were to be friends now.  I added, "And you know what?  I'll pray for you if you'll pray for me that we can learn to love even the Hillarys and Donalds in our midst, because God loves them ever as much as He loves us."

How quickly walls get presumed, then built, and then protected. Truth is, we are all on the same side of the temptation to name and blame what we fear, and ultimately wall ourselves off from each other in the process.