Everyone has a story – The thing is, we do not often stop to listen, to tell one another our stories. It is so much easier to see people as classifications rather than individuals, each with his or her own story!

An article on Facebook this week told of a woman who was in a check-out line behind another woman balancing several children, some of  whom were inadequately dressed for the weather, trying to buy groceries and clothing for them. And behind the writer of the item in line were a well-dressed couple who were making snide comments about the woman checking out. They had “classified” her in their minds and made their own assumptions about her morality. But the real story was that the woman was a foster mom, and the three children had been brought to her the day before, without even adequate clothing. She was trying to get them clean, warm clothing and keep them fed! The woman in the middle helped her to get items through check-out and when she had gone, turned and gave the couple behind her the real story along with a piece of her mind. You would think they would have felt bad, would have apologized, but they did not. They were not ready to admit that their assumptions were wrong.

We all make assumptions; we cannot deny it. But sometimes the assumptions are just plain wrong! What if, instead of making an assumption, we offered help, or asked about a person’s story? What if we listened?

When Jesus was faced with a person about whom he could have made an assumption, he asked a question instead. Remember “Blind Bartimaeus”? Sitting by the road-side, he called out to Jesus, and Jesus said, “What do you want me to do for you?” (Mark 10:46-52 is the story.) We might think the answer obvious, but Bartimaeus needed to speak for himself.

The loving thing to do is to ask the question, allow a person to speak, and to listen to that person’s story. Let me hear your story, and I will tell you mine, and we will find it much easier to love one another, as Jesus said.