To Love "Other"

Other

We are our best creative selves when challenged with something beyond our capacity. Loving “Other” is a great sparring ground for a challenge such as this. There is something of the narcissist in all of us. There is certain folly in a life where all we have to worry about is agreeing with our own “great and unmatched wisdom.”

At times it is challenge enough to love our own spouse or partner, really anyone close to us in our lives. let alone those who are from a completely different culture with different beliefs, different values and different customs. It’s in those times when we are grasping for our better selves. It’s also in those times that something in our humanity may plunge down into an unexpected depth of understanding and compassion.

Years ago as a Social Worker, I resettled refugees. They had come in from many places around the world, Viet Nam, Bosnia, Somalia, Sudan, Kosovo, etc. Developing a rapport was vital to working on a case plan that would help them succeed here in the States. And rapport was impossible without communication. I had to rely on interpreters for every interaction. But I found that if I spent enough time in their presence, walking with them through their ordinary day, something began to be communicated beyond words.

Watching them patiently endure the snubs of the bureaucracy and just about everyone they interacted with gave me such a respect for them. I wanted to know where that kind of strength came from and started asking questions that would help me to know them on another level. That two-way person-to-person or rather heart-to heart kind of exchange changed me. Different and challenging became beautiful and admirable.

My friend Lul, a Muslim from Somalia that I met during that time taught me so much about honor, respect and forbearance. Once after her neighbor slammed into her car and then railed against her, trying to shift the blame away from his negligent behavior, I watched her work through it with grace and dignity, with humility and generosity in a way that I had never witnessed before. It was part of her culture and value system. She was firm and confident in her interactions and more over was at complete peace within herself.

I began to learn something then, something I’m still a student of. It’s about the beauty of Other and how to be in awe of it.

We have no idea what kind of beautiful mystery is out there until we venture out beyond our comfort zone. Our most memorable and precious stories are born out of “aha” moments when we have stumbled upon a lush clearing in a dense forest, or heard a quiet song out of silence. That’s what it’s like to discover beauty in Other.

Where will you venture to find the beauty of Other?

Word Prompt for the Week: Song out of Silence