Breaking the Bottle of Intolerance

I can usually ascertain the condition of Mom and Dad within the first few seconds of walking in their door. On Saturday, I walked in and Dad immediately said, "Kelly, come in here." I heard the desperateness in his voice. Dad informed me of the Pittsburg Synagogue shooting. The rest of the morning was filled with relative silence from the Baptist Rabbi. Tears whelped up in his eyes as he listened to the reports of innocent people killed while worshipping.

Being homebound, Dad has a great amount of time to reflect on the happenings in our world. We have had many conversations about how intolerant our world has become. Our digital society has given everyone a voice and a platform to push personal agendas and destroy other viewpoints. This has greatly disturbed him.

There is not a man more solidified in his beliefs than Dad. However, he has always welcomed people to hold a different viewpoint than him. He has welcomed his family and friends to challenge beliefs and embrace the freedom to own personal thoughts. Dad has had close friends that were Democrats, Republicans, Baptists, Methodists, Catholics, Jews, Agnostic, and downright confused about their foundational beliefs. He has always had the ability to put differences aside and celebrate the uniqueness of individuals.

We live in a world of great diversity filled with egocentrism. We all think we are "right" and feel that living in a free country gives us the right to slice another person to the core if they are not in line with our beliefs. My, oh my! Don't we think highly of ourselves! Let's face it...when all is said and done, I feel strongly that we will have most things wrong. We live in a very complex world and we are well-known for trying to fit social and religious issues into a small black and white bottle with little room for flexibility. What is the result? Insults on social media, attacks in newspapers, commercials degrading another human being, suicides, murders, mass shootings, terrorist activity... nothing good comes from this. Where is the respect for human frailty and dignity? What are we doing to ourselves?

The Baptist Rabbi always taught me to think for myself, hold firm in my beliefs, but respect the beliefs of others. Jesus instructs all of us to love. He didn't just love the easy.......he loved ALL. In this time of great turmoil, may we all remember that we are not invincible. We live in a world where we could easily self-destruct. Isn't it our responsibility as adults to model ethical and humane interactions to our young ones. What are we teaching them? How do we look in the eyes of our children and tell them that they are not safe worshipping because our world has become so intolerant?


Tolerance does not make your foundation shaky.
Loving does not make you weak.
Small acts of kindness can be powerful life changers for both the giver and the recipient.
We are all humans - and are filled with imperfections. Yours are not greater than mine, just different. Goodness knows... I have many faults!
If we worked on our own compassion as much as we focused on the inadequacies of others, think of the difference we could make. After all, I only have to answer for myself, not the actions of others.


When is this senseless violence going to stop? Never..... until we all decide that tolerance is a sign of strength and we don't have to be threatened just because our neighbor doesn't fit into our black and white bottle of rigid thinking. Sometimes, there are many shades of gray. My prayer today is that we can all feel secure enough in ourselves to not participate in this intolerant behavior that is so prevalent in our nation today. It's time to break the bottle of intolerance and embrace that there is room for all of us.

May our thoughts and prayers be with ALL the families who have been impacted through violent acts of intolerance.