As we finished up the last bites of our “Swanee” burgers and crispy French fries, our conversation started to drift. It happens.

My childhood buddy and I had caught up on the normal things—family life, work balance, and summer schedules. 

We talked about what’s been going well and what’s been frustrating. 

We prayed over our food and blessed each other with the gift of knowing where we had been and who we are. Maybe you have those close friends too. It’s such a gift.

And then, per usual, we dabbled and weighed into recent developments in ChatGPT, global politics and conflicts, and how hard it is to stay out of the mudslinging of polarization. He talked about being typecast with a particular party. People just assuming who you are by what you look like. 

My buddy shared, “I know that we probably voted differently in the last election, but I really appreciate your perspective and faith.”  

We both try to really listen to each other. To understand where we are coming from. To find common ground.

“It’s mutual, I said.”

It’s definitely not easy, but we seek to speak from our own experience, respectfully, peacefully.

But even more than what I appreciate about my buddy and however he votes, is who is he as a child of God. 

That identity. The source of his being. How he lives like Jesus. Trusting that the Spirit is moving through both of us to help make the world a better place and more like God’s dream.

It takes work. We rarely agree. But we are both invited to stay curious and to leave room in our hearts for other perspectives.

This is the work that the ELCA is also looking to cultivate in our church bodies. 

Join me in the Garden Room from 10–10:45 a.m. on Sundays May 7, 14 and 21 to explore a new curriculum by the ELCA to invite more conversation around our Civic Life and Faith.

Our conversation may drift a bit, but we keep being drawn back to the gift of understanding each other as children of God.

God’s Peace,

Pastor Peter