Wednesday in the Word

Wow, Sharon is posting a Wednesday in the Word after succeeding in posting her 25 Days of Christmas post in a timely fashion?!

The world must have gone nutters in the past 24 hours.

Haha, wow. Today has been a bit of a strange day for me. I've been sporting a massive headache and a slight case of vertigo. This happens often, sadly. Being a flight attendant is probably not the best job suitable for my physical self, but blah~ haha. I just love travelling, and who knows? Maybe this job will be a job I have for long term, or maybe it's just a filler job. Who knows? I'm still relatively young.

Today's post is inspired by my Uber driver. He is an international student from Shanghai. He's very kind, but skeptical about things, and says he likes Trump because diversity will drive America downhill. This is a foreigner, in a foreign country, saying that America should ban foreigners, so all hail Trump. Um... hm.

He goes on to explain his stance. He goes to a school that is fairly small, and because it's a private university, he is surrounded by international students with the money to simply pay their way into school. He says he mostly speaks Chinese to his friends, and has yet to experience any prejudice within the school. He states that Chinese people are okay, but there are many Mexicans and Blacks who ruin America. He was involved in a hit and run (he didn't see who it was), and said "It must have been a Mexican or Black." He says "Chinese people will respect the law, but those people don't, and ruin the feeling of America."

To which I thought: ...Really? Because I have a whole different experience with Chinese people crowding the streets with j-walking while pregnant.

I was really frustrated at this point: How can this man just assume that he was hit by a Mexican or Black person? How can he be so prejudice against them? How can this man have such hatred for people he's never met? How can this man support another man who doesn't just hate Mexicans and Blacks, but will probably also target himself?

But then again: why would he care? He isn't planning on staying. He is just here to get a bit more education, and lives in a safe community where there is minimal prejudice. This Uber driver is a man who is driving Uber out of boredom, not needs. This is a man whose parents bought him a nice car to drive, and bought his way into university overseas. He has already told me that much. How can he understand the lives of someone who might not be well off at all, and has probably been mocked for it all his/her life? He then continued the conversation by insulting America over and over again, saying that he's going back to China for sure and bringing everything he learns back to China, because no one wants to stay in America. Unless you're from a really poor nation. Like India. Yes, this man had examples. Oh, or women, who find men here. Because y'know, American men love their foreign ladies. It's exotic.

I really don't like getting into political battles with people I don't know. I don't know this man well, but I definitely did not like the way he spoke about specific ethnic groups and women. I don't live in a great area in New Jersey. I don't. I see the living conditions of people around. I am willing to bet that the person who did the hit and run might have been really scared. Probably felt bad, but couldn't really do anything else. Maybe s/he couldn't afford insurance, but needed a car to work. Or, maybe it was a company car, and s/he couldn't afford to be reported. Who knows? I digress. I mentioned, "I'm sure everyone has their reasons for doing things." To which he responded, "You must be a saint."

Must I be? To think of others? There are a great many Trump supporters who aren't supportive of his racial and misogynist views, but support him for other reasons. However, this man is supportive for those very reasons. It made me sick to the stomach to converse with him, and it made me really sad. But would arguing with him have made any difference?

If I changed his mind, would anything change?

If I changed his mind, would Trump not take on the presidency?

No.

Changing his mind will change the way he approaches people.

Changing his mind might make him give someone a chance.

But changing his mind doesn't start with arguing with him out of frustration, and trying to make him see things from my perspective.

"As for the one who is weak in faith, welcome him, but not to quarrel over opinions." Romans 14:1

Changing someone begins with making them see you; lead by example and make them want to change their perspective. Lead by example.

I simply told the Uber driver that I only try to see things through what the Bible teaches me.

I don't know if that will change him.

I don't know if that will make him want to change.

But I put a seed there, and maybe it will grow.

I'm someone who either completely bites her tongue, or lets it loose, but I pray for more wisdom in moments like these. I am someone who either doesn't say anything because I am afraid of what will ensue. I am someone who is really hotheaded, and if you say something I reallyreallyreally disagree with, I will bite your head off with my words. I pray that I can be more... moderate? with how I control my tongue, because silence and confrontation can be as dangerous as they are useful...

#christ #prayers #politics #bible #Christianity #God #wednesdayintheword