You may be thinking, “What in the world does controversy and coloring have in common?”  It’s actually something I have been thinking about for some time.   How does an opposing view and coloring connect?  I’m an avid adult coloring lover.  I used to say that I did not have an artistic bone in my body, but I quickly discovered a few years ago that I love putting together a color scheme in the pictures I color.   I also seem to have an eye for those “kodak moments” with photography.  If you are younger than 40 you may have no idea what I’m talking about.  Kodak moments are images that you see that you believe would make a good photograph. 😊.

When I am coloring a picture, I may believe that I found all of the flowers in the picture to color.  It isn’t long before I see another one that I missed.  It happens over and over.  Many time we can think we have a clear picture of something, but as we look at it for a longer time frame or at another time, we see things we may have missed.  We also all have grids in our mind that we see things through.  That grid was formed from our influences and histories as we grew up.

I have so many friends who see many things differently about several topics.  And since I absolutely hate offending anyone, there are times I keep my opinions to myself on some subjects.  I learned this the painful way.  Many years ago, I posted a comment on social media about a controversial subject and got land blasted by someone I thought was a friend.  I have never been talked to in that way in my life! To say I was shocked was an understatement.  I, then, decided I would no longer post anything on social media that was “controversial.”

How about you?  Can you relate to this situation?  The fact that we run a nonprofit ministry is also a reason to keep some opinions to myself.  If I can lose a friend over believing something that a friend doesn’t believe, I’m sure I could lose a supporter for our ministry.  Again, I’m talking about any controversial topic.  We live in a society where people seem to get offended at just about anything.  However, an election year magnifies this problem.  Both sides of the fence feel passionately about their view.  We have to learn to get along, even if we disagree.   This is a learned skill that sometimes takes time.   Down deep in my heart I do not want to offend anyone.  And I believe most people don’t enjoy offending others.

If you have known me long, you know that I am a person that feels things deeply.  Therefore, I have to make a hard decision when I feel I am not being true to myself by staying quiet.  Since I have a history of abuse, justice is extremely important to me.  When I see dishonesty, or false accusations, or anything that is not on the up and up, something rises up on the inside of me.  Truth and discernment is extremely important to me.  I have no doubt it is also important to the people that have the opposing view on a topic.  The world would be a boring place, if we all saw everything exactly the same.

Could I be wrong about the way I see some things?  Absolutely!  Any of us could be wrong about anything. But I have to stand by my convictions.  I not only look at the subject at hand, but the integrity of the other people that feel the same way.  You will resonate with one camp or the other in most controversial subjects.  But we have to stay open to understanding that our opinions can change as we continue to look at a topic.  Just like my coloring experience, I just might see some things differently as I gaze into the picture.  You might too.  Let’s give one another grace and patience as we disagree.  Let’s understand that the other person might feel just as passionately as we do over the opposing view.   Let’s also feel the freedom to stand true to our view, even if it is not always the popular view.  What does your heart or your gut tell you?  Let’s stay open to seeing the uncolored flower we might just swear has already been colored.  And for the day and time that we live, let’s pray for discernment and truth to prevail.