Mon Sept 15 Hi Haters

Is it just in our nature to be haters? Is it a skill you develop or is it inherent? Why do we do this to ourselves and others? It makes absolutely no sense.

I bring this up because a couple of people at the place I temp decided to start a rumor about me and a co-worker. It made no sense to me. First off, I’m a temp. I literally sit in the back corner somewhere stuffing envelopes and sending checks. I don’t really bother anyone and I’m pretty quiet so you don’t even realize I’m there. I speak to people, am friendly and do whatever I am assigned to do to the best of my ability. I think that made people nervous. I was beginning to get a good reputation and the people in charge seemed to really take to me. They had already let one person go to keep me on and I’m not sure if that bugged people. So what was the rumor? Too stupid to even discuss. Just don’t assume that if you see people talking that they are somehow involved. Especially if one of them is old enough to be your daddy, married with four kids and one on the way. Assume it even less if when you listen in on their conversation they are talking about the Lord and he raves about how wonderful his wife is and how much he loves his family.

I’ve mentioned over and over that living here has forced me to literally talk to new people every day. Some days I am tired and don’t feel like it, but you never really know who you’re going to meet. Today I met Miriam. I don’t know what drew me to her. Maybe it was the fact that she was a teenage girl and I like working with teens. All I know is that within minutes she was telling me her whole life story. She was Muslim and on a thirty day fast. Right then I admired her. To be sixteen with the dedication to fast for thirty days, no food, water, nothing takes a lot. And she had been doing it for years. So I began asking her questions about being Muslim and she began asking me questions about being Christian. It wasn’t a debate, no one was trying to force the others religion on the other. We just talked. She talked about how straight my teeth were and how she hated hers. I explained how I went through high school and half of college looking snaggle toothed. At the end of the conversation did she want to become a Christian? No. Did she leave feeling encouraged and knowing that God loved her and that can be demonstrated by a stranger speaking to her? Yes.

New York is a melting pot. It just so happens that I live in an area with a lot of Muslims. I have watched them and questioned why as Christians we don’t have the same dedication. They pray three times a day faithfully much like Daniel did, but sometimes I look up and haven’t talked to God once. From the time she was a child Miriam fasted every September with nothing touching her lips as many Muslims do. We complain and can’t make it through one day of fasting sometime. We say no food but go and drink two or three Jamba Juices. Why? How come that level and dedication to God is not automatically built into our relationships? It made me repent on the spot for not doing all I could to dedicate myself to the Christ who gave up his very life for me.