Over the past few years, I’ve been lucky enough to connect with a coworker of mine who shows me what it means to search for God in all things in a deep, meaningful way. When we met in a coffee shop last month, she handed me a purple heart-shaped stone, remarking that she believed the color represented me. She suggested I keep the stone with me to remember those who love me, including God.
Beth’s insatiable curiosity in the world around her reminds me to see the beauty in God’s creation: no two people have the exact same experience of the world. Although adults can sometimes become more cynical as they get older, she still asks everyone she meets about their experiences. Beth truly exhibits a humbling “lifelong learner” attitude, never assuming she understands everything about a situation or a person.
While she is certainly full of wisdom, she doesn’t offer life advice in the same manner as other figures in my life. When I leave our conversations, I’m not full of sweeping statements about how I should live, and she often doesn’t suggest any specific answers to what I’m going through. Every time we’ve met, she’s sent along a reading list based upon our conversations, offering different insights beyond our own limited perspectives. Beth’s ideological persuasions are thoughtful and nuanced, never taking something at face value. Beth’s faith in the validity of different perspectives, all encompassed under God’s care, is one of the qualities I most admire about her.
Talking with Beth has helped me realize that we are shaped by our communities but can still maintain our individual identity within those groups. In college, it can be so easy to define ourselves by the communities we are a part of. We might identify ourselves by our major, our club memberships, or who we live with. Ultimately, these groupings do influence our perspectives on the world, but they aren’t all that we are. Looking at my relationship with Beth categorically, it might appear that our different generational, religious, and lifestyle identities would bring barriers to our shared understanding. Despite this, as God’s people, we were able to connect deeply in our shared humanity.
Beth is candid about how communities sometimes allow us to express ourselves in certain ways, but can be limiting in others, especially if the group’s ideals don’t match up with our individual goals. Watching her share big ideas in a small coffee shop, I am struck by Beth’s commitment to truth. While she didn’t attempt to formulate an objective truth, she could share her own truth and embolden others to speak candidly of their own unique experiences. Her investment in understanding others ultimately transcends any category we might choose to use. Beth’s commitment to being open and present with other humans, revering them as equal participants in God’s creation, reminds me that by infusing faith into daily interactions, it’s possible to make a big impact.
- Finding Faith from Home - April 1, 2020
- Dr. Helen Phelan on the Miraculous Lives of Irish Medieval Saints - February 26, 2020
- Reflections from Last Year’s Lenten Season - February 26, 2020