"God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble." (James 4:6b)

 

While on vacation visiting our son in Geneva, N.Y., he shared with me the campus magazine from Hobart and William Smith Colleges, where he is "Visiting Professor of Entrepreneurship." What grabbed my attention was the letter to the community from their President, Mark D. Gearan.

He spoke about a lifelong relationship that he developed with his college roommate, Hugh Hewitt, a now regular commentator on various television news programs. Hewitt wrote in his book If It's Not Close They Can't Cheat:

"Mark and I are political opponents and very close, indeed, inseparable friends. He's just wrong about nearly everything, and I hold out very little hope of his ever changing."

Mark Gearan goes on to write, "In nearly four decades of friendship, Hugh and I have celebrated the milestones of one another's lives, participating in weddings, holidays, and graduations. Our families have happily vacationed together and we speak or text frequently.

What makes our friendship work, I believe, is our capacity to listen to one another and to engage in conversation. Despite our differences of opinion or ideology, our conversations have never been spiteful or unkind. Instead, we have found things on which we agree -- a shared love of family and country, and an optimism for the future."

In our families, friendship circles, and even our congregations we are not going to be without our differences of convictions, opinions, political or social viewpoints, but may we labor earnestly to

swallow our pride and to find those things on which we can agree, particularly our shared love for Jesus Christ, and his command for us to love one another as he has first loved us.

In Christ's Service,

Steve