Space for Change

“Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer them space where change can take place.”

Henri J.M. Nouwen

These past several weeks I’ve gotten to know more about what it’s like to see from different perspectives. A coworker of mine and I have talked a couple of times about religion and what we believe. He doesn’t agree with everything I believe in, nor do I believe everything he believes in. But what is so much more important than any disparities we might have, is that we both share a common respect for each other. 

I believe the world we live in today is full of people who are trying to change each other. People of different religions, political stances, or equality views and the list goes on. What breaks my heart is, it only takes some people one opinion to make them change how they treat the other person they contradict with. Sometimes I think people fear more about their opinion being maybe “wrong” than caring more about the other person.

We can’t change people, rather God is the one who does the changing. My coworker and I may not ever come to agree on what we both believe in. But that doesn’t disqualify me from treating him any differently than I would with someone who has the same views as me. Every time I go to work all I can do is show my love and kindness to him. There’s nothing more I can do. I believe when we offer the space for change to take place, we are allowing God to intercede and allowing His work to take place. 

If we aren’t setting each other’s differences aside, how can we extend the space needed for change to happen? 

Caili

“No one has ever seen God; but if we love one another, God lives in us and his love is made complete in us.” ― John 4:12