To love another person is to see the face of God

My post title is a line from a song from the classic Broadway play Les Misérables.

I'm well-aware that when I post on Facebook or on my blog here, I'm posting on hot topic issues, primarily marriage equality. On Facebook, I see pictures with captions that support what I believe, and I (probably) annoyingly share them on my profile in an attempt to expose and educate.

Everyone sees the world through a different lens, based on whatever their life experiences include, and many times, some people may feel as though their lens is the one true view of the world, and they defend their world perception with tremendous passion and emotion, potentially alienating others who disagree with their particular perception. Standing for something can definitely indicate what kind of person you are, your character. And one's character can easily be exposed by how one approaches and deals with others who view the world from their own lens, also insisting that their view is the correct one.

I see the world through the eyes of someone who deals with discrimination daily. I see and experience injustice first hand. I'm not in the majority. I'm part of 2 minorities in that I'm Hispanic and gay. I've known people who are members of even MORE minorities. I once met a man, when I was in college (over 8 years ago), who was Hispanic, highly hearing impaired, blind, gay, and even HIV+. The only other way I could see him be more of a minority is if he had also been a little person.

Because I see the world through the eyes of one who's a subject of daily discrimination, it teaches me to empathize with other people, to be able to walk a mile in their shoes and see life through their eyes.

That being said, here's the challenge:

If you know someone who opposes your views, and is as stubborn about being educated in your view point as you are about being educated in theirs, how do you deal with that? Do you just let the sparks fly in friction of potentially inevitable heated debate? Or despite the fundamental disagreements, do you look at that person and still do what Jesus taught us to do and love that person anyway, even when you each hold irreconcilable view points?

In today's political climate, we have 2 major political parties, and each one believes in their heart of hearts that their beliefs are the right ones. So what happens? You have 2 sides arguing and arguing, and slinging mud at each other, trying to expose each other's lies, half-truths, misinformation, etc. One side paints the other as being bigoted, while the other side paints the other as being immoral, and so the mud-slinging continues, seemingly without end. Then one side will use Scripture to justify and support their beliefs, and then the other side will use it to counter the opposition's beliefs.

A relative brought to my attention that when I post as much as I do on Facebook, I'm taking part in the mud slinging. After careful reflection, I've realized I am. I've also, upon reflection, realized that as much as I try to maintain that I'm trying to expose hypocrisy (by being a "digital activist"), I've failed to recognize my own. I cannot claim to be follower of Christ if I'm yelling in judgment at those who disagree with my view of the world. That's not love. That's hate and intolerance, something I actually would like to fight to eradicate. But I can't help rid the world of intolerance when I'm practicing it myself.

A few weeks ago, Frank and I had the privilege to see Les Misérables through Broadway Across America. It's our favorite musical. I love the music, and he loves the story, and he essentially aspires to be like the main charactor, Jean Valjean, a man who truly and completely embodies Christ-like behavior in his actions. He starts off in the story as a criminal, robs a priest who gives him food and shelter, but when the priest covers for him against the authorities, Valjean becomes converted and vows to live a righteous life. His vow puts him in very difficult situations in which he is faced with difficult dilemmas whose options lie in self-interest, or selflessness. And each time, he chooses selflessness in remembering to honor his vow to God, to lead a righteous life. When I listen to the soundtrack, and when I saw the play, there was one line in a song that struck me:

"To love another person is to see the face of God..."

Those words echo in me very deeply. I thought about those words this Father's Day weekend. And simply the thought of these words started making me cry. I felt so humbled, so guilty, so...hypocritical. Here I am being a "digital activist" intending to educate and expose falsehoods my "enemy" teaches, and I feel like I might be causing more harm than good because I'm too busy trying to push my beliefs onto others when I vocally preach against others doing that as well.


I guess what I'm saying is that though there's nothing wrong with debate, and deep, intelligent discussions, there's certainly nothing wrong with educating people, I mean, for cryin' out loud, I AM and educator by profession! But It's not that you educate, it's how you educate. And I think I'm going about educating the wrong way. I don't know. I may look at this post in the next few years and think, "What the hell was I thinking writing that post?" All I'm saying is that I'm looking at how I've been behaving lately, and it doesn't line up with the ideal person I'd like to think I'm striving to be, and that type of person is the one described in this quote from Les Misérables. I want to be the type of person who loves all, not just those who agree with me, because I think that's what Jesus would do.

And that's not easy to do. It's a lifelong challenge.