Why do you despise us so? What have we done? Was it our physical appearance? Was it the way we act?

Was it that you had forgotten we were people like you? Like others you knew? Like the people you could understand and love?

But you don’t stop long enough to know us. To spend time. To see beyond our apparent differences. To see what we have inside.

We may have a lot in common.

We feel pain, as you do. We love like you do. We love the world God made, the children, the flowers, friends.

And yes. Sometimes we have the same faith too. We worship the same God. Follow the same Jesus.

Have we forgotten how the One we worship dined with the tax collector, the leper, and outcasts of all kinds?

Have we forgotten the love he taught us to share, despite our differences?

We’re not as different as you think.

marja