Have you had people share with you their stories of great heartache and loss? How do you respond? One approach is to share your own story as an expression of empathy, but be very careful in how you go about this. What is your motive in sharing? Is it to identify with the other person in the solidarity of suffering or is it to tell a better story and shift the focus to your own pain? This leads to an escalating game of ‘Can You Top This?’. There are times to be meek and humble and remain silent about your own pain, or to present it in such a way that it gives life and comfort to others.

Do you tend to categorize the people you meet? In a negative sense this is called stereotyping, but who can resist the temptation to simplify the task of matching people with identities? For some there are obvious visual indications, but do you like having an identity assigned to you based on your appearance? Is it an improvement to take a more detailed and complex view that results in more categories? What about moving in another direction and further simplifying the task? If you could reduce the process to a single category to include everyone what would it be? How about child of God?

Do you see a difference between friends and lovers? There is a strong distinction between these things in popular culture. Do you consider lovers to be more intimate than friends? But I said greater love had no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. In this statement I describe the magnitude of intensity that is available to those who love as friends. So what is the difference? Romantic love is possessive and exclusive. Friendship love is non-possessive. Can there be confusion in romantic love about whether they want what is best for themselves or best for their partner?

It is amazing how polarized the nation is over COVID and the “COVID Vaccine.”  It is hard to determine “truth.” The Bible says we should listen to both sides before making a decision (Deut. 1:17; Prov. 18:13). I am going to present several video links and one article for you to consider. I can guarantee you that the videos below WILL teach you things you do not currently know, allowing you to make a more informed decision for yourself and your loved ones.