A Better Understanding

In my last blog, I described my mission trip to Africa. While in Africa, I witnessed poverty, disease, love, hospitality, drought, and life. Ever since I came back I have viewed the world much differently than I did weeks before I went on the trip. I feel that my mind has been opened even wider. I used to see things in black and white, but I think I have a better understanding of life. I'm learning not to criticize or look down on people. Even though I do not support gay rights, I do have a better understanding of what they go through everyday and I am no better than them. They are only human and so am I. If I don't like people telling me how to live my life, why should tell others how to live theirs? I'm a Christian who lives by the laws that God provided for us and one of the biggest rules God gave us was to love our neighbors as ourselves. If I just look down on people because of my faith, then I'm not being true to my faith. No sin is greater than the other.
I'm not so unsympathetic as I used to be when people make mistakes. I realize that people make mistakes and so do I, so I should never lack sympathy for them. I can't even count the many mistakes that I've made in my lifetime. Usually we say a person had what was coming to him because it's a way to make ourselves feel better. I don't think anyone deserves to suffer. Whenever I hear about a teenager getting drunk and then dying in a car crash because he or she was racing friends or making unwise decisions, I usually think, "how am I suppose to feel bad about that? They were drunk, they drove under the influence, and they decided to act on a dumb decision." People do make dumb decisions at one point in their lives. Sometimes the decision will kill the person or it can ruin the reputation of someone. Because the person made the unwise decision to drink and drive, it will affect the world around him and maybe change the lives of others. It's sad that people have to die in order for people to change their lives, but that's just how it is sometimes. I never really understood that until now. Whenever we make decisions like having pre-marital sex and then getting pregnat, it's something that a person has to live with, but will learn from it. Making mistakes is just a way to finally grow up.
I work at a movie theater and one of the foods that we provide is pizza. Sometimes when we cook a pizza it gets a little toasty around the sides. When that happens, the costumer will complain and demand us to make a new one for them. I usually look at the pizza and think to myself, "what's wrong with it?", but apparently slightly cooked means it's no good. Because it's a little toasty I have to toss it out. It really upsets me when people can't appreciate what they have when other people would kill for it. I'll admit, I am slightly picky about foods, but if something is slightly cooked, like the pizza, I'll still eat it.
I also learned not to live my life in ignorance. I have the tendency to blast certain people like feminists, hippies, and librals because they think differently than I do. I learned to see their point of view and I may not accept any of it, but at least I'll know where they are coming from instead of attacking them. My brother is considered to be a libral to a certain degree. I used to think that all librals were people who want to change how we all live, but I learned that there are good librals and bad librals. I used to never undestand feminism because I thought it was all about women critizing men, but I learned it was so much more. When I went to Dubai, most of the women had to cover themselves because the husbands did not want other men looking at her. The husbands would provide for themselves first and for their wives second. That gave me a bigger picture of what feminists are fighting for everyday.
I learned that life isn't all about having fun. Most people have to do something fun each and every day to make their lives seem fulfilled. There are people who have to go clubbing, go to parties, hang out with friends everyday, or have to go someplace just to have fun. It is good to have fun, believe me, I love a great party, but there's way more to life than just having a party-like-life everyday. Most people don't see the big picture. They don't take time to stop and count the stars, or watch the sunset, or even appreciate life as it is. For me, I have learned to see every little thing as beauty. Every little thing in life is beautiful; pretty or ugly.
Right now, I'm trying to make my life better than it was. I know that everyday I will sin, but I want to be able to recognize it so that I can not sin as much. No one is perfect and I don't expect anyone to be perfect. I know that bad things happen everyday to everyone. There's no way to stop that, but with every flood there's a dove with a leaf in its mouth. I've learned so much and I want to continue learning and to have a better understanding of the world around me.