You Might Not Like It. You Just Need to Respect It 3/9/2020

Good Morning,

I feel the need for more prayer today. My first stop for work has a one hour drive time so more prayer it will be. I will however take some Door County Chocolate Raspberry Truffle Coffee to sip on while I pray and drive.

Romans 13:7 Pay to all what is owed to them; taxes to whom taxes are owed, revenue to whom revenue is owed, respect to whom respect is owed; honor to whom honor is owed. 

Last week my cousin and her two daughters came to town for a funeral. We had the distinct pleasure to have them stay with us for a few days. My cousin is a little older than I am and has lived on the East Coast for many years. Truthfully I have met her daughters a couple of times but never interacted with them as much as I had the pleasure to do on this trip. They are both lovely people.

So the big worry of the week was the fact that politically, the oldest daughter and I are on the opposite side of the world with our political views and preferences. Everyone warned us both not to talk politics with each other. I found this quite amusing.

A wise young man told me once, "you don't have to like it. You just have to respect it." And that is what we did.  It is amazing when you decide to respect the differences and opinions of another person and treat them the way you would want to be treated.
 You have already found a common ground to stand on. We did exchange ideals and preferences on a few things but chose to just enjoy the time together. I can tell you for sure that we both knew neither of us would change political views no matter what. But for me being heard and listening with respect helped me to find that we actually agreed in theory on at least one thing. It was actually pleasant watching some primary election returns together.

Respect can actually lay the groundwork for peaceful resolutions on many things. I believe respect is the key to wisdom.  Wisdom applied and used in a spirit of cooperation  and for the betterment of all can lead to great outcomes. But it all starts with respecting others regardless of whether we agree or not.  Not everything will always go your way, but in a system of free voting you just wait and change things when you vote. Insulting one another just makes family gatherings a misery that no one wants to share.

So my friends, we will always have differences but we also need to respect the other person and their views.

Marty