What Makes Us Different?

 People like us - what makes us different?

Is it our willingness to forgive so that we might also be forgiven?

Have we learned along this journey that being right is not nearly as important as being happy?

Perhaps. Perhaps both these things are true about us. However, what so many people not like us are surprised by is our strength of character, our refusal to give up the principles that shaped us even in the face of calumny. We can set our faces like flint and walk towards Jerusalem, so to speak, and those who clamor for their own selfish desires to take precedent over what is right are flabbergasted when that happens.

They shouldn't be.  People like us, we were saved by those principles we defend.  We walk through life today, stumbling occasionally and making our own share of mistakes, with grace and dignity because of those principles.  Why would we abandon them?  Because they are no longer fashionable? Because others of our peer group have done so in order to keep the peace?

I look around the rooms I get to sit in today and what I see is the quiet, sure and strong backbone of the American people.  Not flashy.  Not loud.  Quiet and sure and strong.  We are different ages, which gives me hope.  It's not just a bunch of old people sitting around and pounding the table.  Apparently, something about us is attractive and those who long for a life that is truly rich, full and without heightened conflict and passionate discourse are drawn to us.  They want the same.

People like us, we have a tendency to be overlooked.  Not all of us, of course, because some just sparkle too much to be anything other than a bright light.  However, what I see in this tribe of mine is the deep love of the life we have found; one devoted to God and Neighbor.

I get to spend my life today with People Like Us.  I am glad I am shunned and discarded by those who would distort Truth for their own selfish ends.  It woke me up, shook me out of my complacency and made it necessary for me to take action that cost me dearly in the eyes of the world but gained me entrance into a special club, a solid group, a happy herd of fellow pilgrims trudging quietly and certainly towards a happy destiny.  

We will never be invited to share on anyone's Pod Cast.  Maybe only one or two will write a book.  What will happen is we will continue to grow and change and share with each other.

God, thank you for making us different.