We Do Not Live in the Same World

#104

Friend,

You and I do not live in the same world.

We inhabit the same spaces. We perceive activity around us at the same time. We even share moments, stories, and laughter together.

But we do not live in the same world.

Your experiences, ideas, perceptions, and feelings differ from mine. You’ve experienced it. You are cold, and the person next to you is burning up. You think the music is too loud, the person next to you wants them to turn it up. You think a joke is hilarious; the stranger beside you believes it is stupid.

We do not live in the same world.

Sometimes I wonder how someone could believe that, think that, share that on social media, or say that out loud, and then I remember they do not live in the same world as me.

I have to continually remind myself that we live in different worlds because if not, I can be judgmental when the truth is often much simpler: if I had lived their life, I would likely believe what they believe.

I think the hardest thing about not living in the same world with someone else is that we are called to create community with these aliens. How beautiful is it when two people come together in marriage? How beautiful is it when people from different countries become best friends? Even people who share so much time often have divergent and distinct perspectives.

One of the gifts of life is when someone shares their little world with you. When they peel back the curtain and share vulnerably their story, their pain, and their perspective, we can see them. When we empathize with their story, we can briefly leave our world and enter theirs.

It takes a lot of sacrifice to leave our world and enter into the other one, and most of us don’t have the time for that with all the people we encounter on a given day or even a few people. So the next time you are baffled by what someone says or does, instead of judging them based on what you would do, remember they do not live in the same world and be curious about what their planet is like.

Love,

Aaron