Charleston: How We Learn
“We are strongest when we show our tenderness to others, when we bend the rigidity of culture and custom to care for those in need. The Spirit dares the conventions of our time so that love can reach out as far and wide as it can. Those from whom we would turn are those from whom we would learn.” Bishop Steven Charleston, Daily Facebook Emails
Transcranial Doppler
Bishop Charleston constantly reminds us that we most learn from those from whom we want to turn away. I try to pass this insight on to spiritual friends as I remember the people and situations who have made such an impact on my life.
In my medical career, my major research developed because the person I had the most difficulty working with pushed me into it. She not so kindly told me that if I didn’t start working on this test for her patients, that she would get someone else to do it or she would do it herself! As I started the research working with children with Sickle Cell Disease, it became one of the most rewarding parts of my career as I grieved for the children and their families and what they had to suffer, hoping to make their lives even a small part better, helping to develop an ultrasound test to know which children were at risk for stroke.
I think of all the people after the recent elections whose candidates did not win. Instead of reacting with violence and hatred, they became more involved in the politics of their country locally, nationally, and globally. They committed themselves to problems of refugees, immigrants, the environment, the working poor, gun violence, and children’s and women’s issues. They let our representatives know what is important to them and actually are running for office where before they watched from the sidelines or perhaps gave a small amount of money to a cause or watched someone else do it.
We learn most from difficult people and difficult situations if we have the courage and energy to go there and process what is going on, transforming the initial anger into useful energy to make a change.
God uses every part of our lives to connect to us and lead us into becoming the people we were created to do and be. Nothing is ever wasted.
Joanna joannaseibert.com