Dissonance

When given the choice to listen to any kind of music with a portion of dissonance, I decline.

No, thank you.

I don’t mind if it is something that is a one note, one beat thing that needs to be resolved. But much more than that and it is not something I will choose. And it is something I will figure out a way to get out of my ear. And fast.

I am not a fan.

Similarly, I am not a fan of verbal sparring. Oh, sure, I have had my days when I was younger and was sure I was right about a lot of things. I have certainly been a pot stirrer in my day. But I have grown to see that I wasn’t always right in the past. So a better bet for me is to figure out where the common ground is.

Apparently, this approach is uncommon, or at least less common, these days.

Let’s say you and I spend an average of 12 hours together in a year. That is one hour a month and there are 8760 hours in a year.

Do I want to talk about hot button topics?

No, I want to talk about your family or how things are going after your knee surgery or your five favorite things to do in your town or your favorite new hobby or your three favorite recipes.

What unites us? What brings us together? What excites and energizes you? What is God doing in your life?

Is that ignoring our different perspectives? I suppose so. Or, at least it is not letting them take center stage.

In my life, I gravitate to those who don’t have the exact same beliefs and opinions as I do but do not have to discuss them with me, either.

This might all be a part of the process of getting older. I don’t need to talk about current news or politics. I pay attention to it from a few different angles and I certainly am praying about the endless issues that divide us. But, I have aged out of the age old debates.

So where does this intersect with PrayerPoints? I am sure you have people you disagree with in your life. We all do. I don’t think the point of life is to only surround yourself with people who think just like you do. Relationships are difficult, it’s true. And there will always be a little dissonance here and there. I am praying for a focus on what unites us rather than what divides us.

We all eat, but we don’t all eat the same things.

We all have free time, but we don’t all do the same things with it.

We probably are all passionate about something, we just aren’t all passionate about the same things.

I encourage you to make the effort to find the common ground with the people God has put in your life. Find those meaningful things that connect you and celebrate them. And, hopefully, those things where you are not aligned can be set aside for the little time you actually have together in the course of a year.

Blessings on your day!
Liz