I got Baxter a special present this past Christmas. I noticed he would lie in front of the heat register on cold winter days. So I found in a catalogue a cat bed that was heated to correspond with a cat’s body temperature. It seemed the perfect special gift,and I hadn’t done anything that extravagant for Baxter since I bought him his Notre Dame collar a few years ago. I ordered the bed, and it came a few weeks before Christmas. I kept it in the box until about a week before the holiday, when I set it up. I told Baxter that this was his special Christmas gift and I was sure he would love it. He ignored it. Later, he sniffed at it and walked on the cushion. He has yet to lie down on it. So much for the perfect Christmas gift!
I thought I knew what Baxter would like and need. I assumed that a heated bed was better from his perspective than a place in front of the furnace vent. I was wrong.
We do the same thing to each other, don’t we? We think we know what the other person needs to be happy, and we act on our assumption. We do it all in good faith, wishing the best for the person, but we forget one thing in the process--letting the other speak his or her mind and respecting that opinion, even if we disagree with it. We sometimes skip those steps, and when we do, we can be far off the mark in understanding and serving the other.
The wonderful thing about our God is that He never skips any steps in His relationship with us. He wants us to voice our opinion with respect, and He respects us for doing so. He made each of us unique, and considers that quality a precious part of His image in us. He made us free to explore new ideas, try new ways and seek communion with Him and each other. For our part, we have to cooperate. We have to share what we are thinking and listen to different points of view. We have to allow others to try approaches different from our own, and consider the results. We find our communion in God by respecting our differences and discovering how they fit together to make a bigger and better picture of God’s likeness in our midst. We assume less, and we look, listen and discuss more.
I guess I am excused for my mistake with Baxter’s heated bed. After all, we don’t exactly speak the same language, and we are different species in the scheme of God’s creation. However, I don’t have the same excuses when it comes to my brothers and sisters in Christ, nor do you.
