The Heart of Humanity: Learning to Appreciate Each Person’s Unique Story

When I was younger, I used to think I wanted to be famous. As I got older and got into preaching, I thought I wanted to be a well known preacher. Well I thought my circle of the Churches of Christ would have made me well known. Boy was I mistaken when there are preachers that are known worldwide that know very little about my religious upbringing.

But as I got older I started to notice something that was there before me the entire time and I had just not paid attention. 2 Corinthians 3:2-3 says,

2 You are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. 3 You show that you are Christ’s letter, delivered by us. You weren’t written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God. You weren’t written on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.

I learned that the world is the pulpit that God has put me in. Everywhere I go, I am an epistle that is being read daily by everyone I come into contact with. So, what are they reading? As James Baldwin said, “I can’t believe what you say, because I see what you do.” Stephen Gower’s book could add to this by asking the question, “”What Do They See When They See You Coming?” I hope that people see the hope and the liberated mind that I have found in the teachings of the Jesus of the Gospels. I hope they see the love of the Creator. I hope the see the peace that the Holy Spirit gives me. I hope they see the resilience and intellect that my elders and ancestors have instilled in me through Ubuntu which is my philosophy of life.

I’m going to be honest. There are some people that I absolutely dread being around. They are so negative about every single thing in life and they drain the life out of me. I believe in the spiritual world and I am still learning to discern spirits to the point that I can feel their presence. This is why I said that some people drain the life out of me. But there are others who give me life just by hearing their voice, being in their presence, thinking about a memory they have shared with me, something they have written, or something they have done.

This is the kind of impact I hope to leave on this world when it is my time to transition to an ancestral realm. It has made me feel good when I have gotten encouragement from a person who proclaims to be an Atheist, an Agnostic, a Hindu, a Jew, a Muslim, and a Shintoist. I list these people because some times those of us who claim to follow the Jesus of the Gospels hit roadblocks with having conversations with people who do not share our faith. But God has allowed the world to be my pulpit and it was not about me bashing these people, it was about recognizing their humanity. They have taught me great lessons.

It brings me joy when someone who changes their mind about Christianity thinks of me when that transition happens. As they are teaching me a different perspective and blessing me, I hope I am leaving a seed that the Spirit of God can use later in life.

As you go about your daily walk, do like my brother William Lewis Houston always tells me, “Be blessed and be a blessing.”