Tolerance vs. Acceptance

"I don't want to just be tolerated, I want to be accepted."

There is a program put on by ABC called "What Would You Do?" People act out scenarios to see if they can catch people's attention and how those people will respond. They act out scenes ranging from someone having toilet paper stuck to their shoe to an American telling a Muslim (American) that she can't shop at his store to black guys vs white guys vandalizing a car. People may think they are non-prejudice or have American pride, but everyone carries that out differently. Having toilet paper stuck to your shoe, something in your teeth or dropping money on the ground may seem small, but the question still is, "What if that happened to you? Would you want someone to help you?"

But then the deeper issues come, with serious self-reflection. If you were at a bakery and the cashier told a Muslim girl wearing a hijab that he was not going to serve her kind, what would you say? Would you say anything? Would you offer to buy for her what she was requesting? Would you walk out of the store refusing to do business there? Would you tell the cashier your opinion of the situation? Does your conviction of 'this is wrong' push you to do something?

If you saw white male teenagers vandalizing a car in broad daylight, how would you respond? If these teenagers were black, would your response be different? Would you walk past and ignore? Call the police? Or engage them?

I mainly watched the examples about race and religion. But there was one on drag queens that caught my attention. A waiter refuses to serve these two drag queens in this small diner. Most people don't say anything, but some do. Some keep it to themselves, some wait till the two are kicked out of the diner, some interrupt the confrontation, even a 10 year old girl gives a statement. During all the videos, I was thinking, "What would I do, and why?" Before I came to a conclusion on this scenario, one of the drag queens said that some people tolerate them but, "I don't want to just be tolerated, I want to be accepted." That brought, 'what would I do?' to a different level. Would my action show that I accepted them or that I just tolerated them. People's lifestyles and preferences are different from mine. I may not have to agree with their preferences and incorporate them in to my lifestyle, but I need to do more than just tolerate the people, I need to accept them. That is what not being prejudice really is. Do my words and actions show that I Accept everyone for who they are, or am I prejudice.

This can even be taken one step further. What Would Jesus Do? We already know. People may not like people who are not their kind. Well, we are the furthest from God's kind. Yes, we were made in His image, but we have tainted it so badly. Our sinful nature has put such a degree of separation between us and God. But yet He still forgives us. He still listens to us. He still helps us. He still calls us His child. He still wants to live in us. If Christ, as God, can come down to earth and call us His brother and consider us His equal, why can't we consider each other our equals, and show it in our words and actions.

Speaking in Tongues

How many pray for the ability to speak in tongues? I mean the Gift of Tongues from the Holy Spirit in 1 Corinthians 12:4-11. "The manifestation of the Spirit is given to each one for the profit of all: for to one is given...different kinds of tongues, to another the interpretation of tongues." In high school, I decided to take French classes. Living on the Canadian border, it made more sense than Spanish. After graduation, a classmate moved away and majored in Arabic in college. That seemed like such a weird major to me. Now, working where I work, I wish I knew more of both Spanish AND Arabic. Ok, I don't even know if I'm at a level where I can say I want to know "More" of either, but I do know words here and there.

A nurse friend of mine once told me that she prays for the gift of healing. Being a nurse is to take care of those who are sick in one way or another and need healing. She would pray that she would be able to heal her patients and relieve them of their pain. In my case, as I have long term elderly patients who aren't necessarily sick, I need to pray for the gift of tongues. One lady can say this whole long phrase, but not until she says the word "bagno" do I know that she needs to go to the bathroom. To ask her if she's ready for bed, I would have to tilt my head and place it by my hands in the sleeping position. I now know when she says, "No letto," she's ready for bed. Pain is "dolore." Good night is "buonanotte." Eat is "mangiare." Yes, I used wordreference to look up the spellings of these words! I know some other words as well. And some are similar to French! I haven't figured out what "spinge me" means yet. That spelling I know is incorrect. As for the Arabic, I know how to say, "Give me my 8 o'clock medicine," roughly. I know you want to learn some so: "Ateeni" means give me. "Huboob" means pills. "Dawa" means medicine. "Waajaa" means pain. "Nam(i)" means bed. And the main word I hear, "yella," means come on. I can understand them quicker than I can think of them to say them myself.

But outside of these few words, and our one staff member who can interpret both languages whenever she's there, communicating with these patients is done through sign language and guessing. The only English they know is what they hear us repeat. If I were able to speak in tongues and/or interpret tongues, the care I give my patients would be so much greater. I would know right away what they are asking for, even if it's something as simple as "my head hurts" or "I'm done." I do pray that can give proper care to my patients each day, but I think I need to get more specific. Lord, give me the gift of speaking and/or interpreting tongues so that I can properly care for your children and provide the comfort and treatment that they need.