Without Projection

I found myself last night at fundraiser for a what I know is a good cause. As I was listening to speaker after speaker I found myself becoming agitated. The words I was hearing and the postures of the speakers were what I considered to be harsh.  I was hearing a lot about how evil the world was, how we must defend our faith, etc. I don't find the world evil as a whole. When I hear the term "defend our faith" all I can think of is arguing and being defensive. It troubles me to think of being on the defensive as I go out into the world.

Why wouldn't my posture just be one of love and not defense?

And when I hear people talking about Christians and non Christians in an us verses them kind of a way, I shut down.

After leaving the event my husband and I had a long conversation about it and in particular my feelings and judgement against people I see as having the wrong idea about scripture.

 As if my ideas were always right, right? When I sit in judgement against others because their version of Truth and their interpretation of scripture is different I am projecting my own issues onto them. I cease to hear their kindness and their devotion because it is packaged slightly different than my own. It is a hard thing to sit with someone who has different beliefs than you (even when you are in the same faith) and hold their statements without judgement.

The truth is their is an arrogance in me. An arrogance that views the world very narrowly. And when I approach life and people and ideas with an attitude of judgement I miss out.

The folks at the even last night do good work. They believe fully in what they are doing. They love others well through their ministry. They are a blessing in their community.

And I almost missed out on that blessing because of projecting my own  insecurities and ideals onto them. I almost missed out because I was judging what I perceived as their judgment of others.

Which is crazy.

If we could all set aside our snap judgments and our view that we are right and others are wrong, if we could hold others and their opinions in a Holy Space, where we just listen and love, imagine the peace and unity that could happen?