Accepting Differences

Heyyy y'all, and welcome back to my blog💕

Earlier this week, I was having a conversation with two of my pretty good friends here at medical school. They were telling me about this run in that they had with a guy in the library, who was basically telling them that he believes that all religions worship the same "God". Both of them being very devout Christians, they strongly disagreed with his opinions. Me, on the other hand, I'm not very traditional. I definitely identify as Christian, but I am interested in all things spirituality and religion, so I was actually very intrigued by his sentiments. I was telling my friends that I would really be interested in talking to him more and understanding his views, and it sparked this SUPER DEEP discussion about religion, and its role in each of our lives (if you know me, you know I was LOVING it lol. I live for a deep discussion.) Mind you, these are my two friends that I usually go to church with every Sunday morning... so while we definitely all worship the same God and have the same faith, it was super interesting to see how all of our views differed, even if it was just slightly.

We ended up taking like a 2 hour break from studying, just talking about our faith. I was asking them a lot of questions about WHY they believe the things they believe, and kind of just stimulating the discussion to tell me more. I believe that the Bible is more metaphorical than literal, and that to know God is to know the deepest good within yourself. That being said, I don’t believe that we can just literally BELIEVE everything written as it is in the Bible, because the Bible was written by man (that is just my opinion though.) Anyways, one of my friends believes that God had to approve everything that was written in the Bible, and that we can’t pick & choose the parts we want to believe. We got into a whole discussion about being saved, and about how each of their lives were changed from when they got saved. They talked about being much less temperamental, and finding peace within themselves, and accepting that everything that happens is God’s will. They were also talking about how some things they did before being saved (like going out to bars/clubs), they don’t do anymore, because they feel that God would not approve of it... I’m different though, because I don’t believe that God wouldn’t want me to have fun lmao😭 but again, that is just my opinion. Everything else they were saying though about finding peace, and accepting life as it comes, I definitely agreed with... However, any of you who have been following me for some time, know that I learned that in India while studying Buddhism, not through Christianity (even though I still believe that Christianity teaches the same core value, it just happened to resonate with me while in India). Anyways, we all had the same views basically, just a different way of looking at it.

I honestly love learning about other's peoples views on issues like this. However, topics like this (religion, politics, etc.) tend to make people sensitive, and they don't like to hear about other people's views. While it may not have been said, I definitely kind of felt that one of my friends thought I was "wrong" for having different beliefs. She is very grounded in her faith, for sure, but she also basically made it clear that she is right, and if you aren't on the same page as her, then you simply have more learning to do. I didn't really say anything at the time since we were talking about religion, because like I said, that's a sensitive subject to really touch upon... but I was definitely thinking about it all night lol.

Later that night, I was trying to explain our conversation to my best friend Parker, and she told me to go watch Toure Roberts' sermon on "Modern Church", and y'all... it was CRAZY, because he was literally talking about everything I was just trying to explain to her about this conversation. Basically, he was saying that there is always going to be a division in the way people worship and their beliefs, however, it's important to note that different is not a detriment. We all need to unlearn the mentality that difference is detrimental, and actively work to fight against our preferences. Even though this specific discussion was about religion, occurrences just like this are extremely common in everyday life! We all do it, so don't even sit here and try to act like you don't lol. We all have our views on certain topics, and the way we believe things should go... and based on that, we think that anyone who doesn't share those same feelings is wrong, or just stupid lol. For instance: in life, you might believe that getting a degree is more important than finding a relationship, however, someone else could want to get married before worrying about school. Yes, the views are very different, however, neither person is wrong. It's just a difference in priority.

In life, we are bound to encounter so many people who are different than us. Pretty sure I said this in another blog, but again, PEOPLE ARE INHERENTLY DIFFERENT. Understanding that is one of the main keys to understanding life, fr. As Toure was saying, we all have a preference for things that are similar to us... It's human nature, honestly. That's the whole reason racism even exists, because people tend to only like things/people that are LIKE them. Her skin is a different color than mine, so I don't like her. Or even homophobia-- he has a different sexual preference than me, so I don't like him. Or personality differences-- If someone is a super loud, boisterous person, and you are quiet and reserved, you might not like that person and think something is wrong with them for being that way. The thing is, though, each individual person brings an entirely new perspective to life, and as you learn to understand different views, you can start to see life on an entirely new spectrum. I got so into studying astrology, because it really is a blueprint for understanding the nature of different people. No, its not an exact science, and it varies among individuals once you start to incorporate their entire birth chart, along with their life experiences and upbringing. Each person is going to be unique, but astrology definitely helps you develop a sense of what other people are like, and how they view life through a different lens than you. While one person might get sad and want to talk about their feelings, other people might retreat into themselves and want to work it out on their own. Nobody is wrong though, just different.

Honestly though, my point in writing this blog is to remind everyone to accept others, and work ACTIVELY against your preferences. We have to stop writing people off initially just because they seem different than us, because if we take the time to get to know them, we might learn that they are actually very similar to us, AND learn something new in the process (or at least understand something in a different light.) I know its not easy, especially if it is something that you're extremely passionate about, and sometimes, we may have to agree to disagree. But just because we disagree on something, doesn't mean I think you are wrong, nor does it mean I love you any less. You have to respect the views of others, be open to trying to understand them, and being able to realize that one different belief, value, or personality trait does not embody an entire individual. We have to LOVE OTHERS despite their differences, and actively work to embrace those differences in each other. We have to accept people for who they are, and rather than judging them, try to UNDERSTAND them.

That's how I feel though, lol. Hopefully y'all can understand me😘

Thanks again for tuning into my blog!

Until next week,

-Janet Maia💕


© 2018 by Beauty and Brains Organization