But I hope it does not induce sleep but rather, wakefullness!

John is a 57 year old male who graduated high school and went to trade school where he became certified in welding and electrical. He is a man who stays busy working or goes stir crazy. So, if there is nothing to do at his house he is out looking for something that somebody needs done but needs help. He does it for free. He is looking forward to retirement as much as a man is looking forward to his next dental appointment. He does attend church sometimes. His interest in "academics" extends only towards his hobby, aviation. He enjoys piloting a rented Cesnar now and then. He has no interest in politics.

Margaret is a 55 year old instructor at the community college. She holds a PhD. in English and a Masters in government. She actively works and when not working enjoys reading and working for the church's womans' auxillary doing projects. She volunteers routinely for Bible school.

Jeff is a 33 year old who works as a CPA. He is a devout Christian but chooses to not be outward about it. He loves discussing politics, cannot stand reading "for fun" and other than that he keeps to himself.

Jennifer is a 30 year old who works as a police officer. She has an associates in criminal justice. She hates politics, loves flying in the police helicopter, and works out at the gym routinely. She is not married and does not have any plans to be.

Gerard is a wildlife management officer who loves the outdoors. Even when off he cannot stand being indoors. His hobbies are football--that's it. (He gets to fish on the job and does not hunt.) Although he has a degree in biology he does not really have additional academic ambitions. He hates politics and working out.

Each of the people above are going to their family's home for a weekend meal together. All arrive at the same place! All of them, despite differences in interests, ambitions, level of religious practice, etc are members of the same family.

They occassionally get into the usual disagreements. Sometimes they get quite loud in their discussions especially if Jennifer has brought along her favorite bottle of bourbon. While the family is talking about government a couple of them walk out the room.

But they sit together at the same table. If one is in need the others waste no time in helping. They don't agree on everything but the one thing they do understand--at the very core level--they are united. They are family.

And so if we believe that we must always agree all the time on all the subjects in order for their to be unity we are very mistaken! Mutual respect, love and concern and an attitude of "we are all in this together" is really all that is needed.

Jude~

Being a woman, I think I can "get away" with telling you, your story brought tears to my eyes. T2O has been a strange mixture of frustration and fascination, with a touch of obsession thrown in now and then. My spirit has been screaming, "Why?! Why, Lord, are we so desperately divided?" Someone can post the simplest thing and there is always someone to debate it. It can be most disheartening.

Thank you, again. God is using you, brother, in my estimation. You are welcome at my table anytime!

~Nancy

Hey Jude, I had some thoughts recently in this direction. And they were thoughts about how it's our "thoughts" that create our feelings about people more than what people say or do. And our thoughts come out of "only" what knowledge we have accumulated up until now, which means, we can only have limited thoughts and thus limited perseptions of how we think about what people say and do.

What if we "think" from another persons' "thoughts" instead of ours? Might we then "think" something perhaps totally differrent than what our own knowledge allows us to think? Might we then maybe Feel differently if we have different thoughts....such as the "other person's" thoughts?

I Love the following that my Dear Friend Yaright wrote:

When I insist that ‘others’ understand my perspective, how shallow my perspective! There is so much more to gain from ‘others’ that caused me to search, and does require us to consider God’s will.

Yes he has a way of speaking a Novel in only a few sentences. If we consider these few words here, we can gain a glimpse of how differently we can think and then how differently we can feel...about people and the things they say.