Othering’s another thing that I still need to work on. That’s for dang sure!
Reflect on what causes you to “other” another. Here’s a very recent example. As many of you know I recently decided to leave ministry after 22 years and figure something else out. Right now I find myself at Costco. And something unique about the Costco I work at is that we have large populations of Indian and other Asian communities – due to being the home of Microsoft and Amazon, who hire tech workers from these areas. Where I’ve found myself othering folks lately – to be bluntly honest – is in their shopping habits. These populations seem to like to shop at night. We close our doors at 8:30pm on a weeknight and will begin to get a rush about 8pm that can last for quite awhile. Especially in the tiredness of a closing time rush I find myself thinking thoughts I’d rather not. Now, I’m guessing this phenomena could be cultural or due to other circumstances (like Amazon’s work culture) but I definitely have found myself seeing people as others in both weak moments, but admittedly in not the weak ones either.
How do you reinforce your “othering”? This is easy. I continue to other people when I listen uncritically to people around me, like my co workers. Or when I tune into media and its underlying tones of othering. My othering is reinforced when my critical thinking is turned off and when my compassion as seeing each and every person as made in the image of God is lost among louder thoughts.
What are your challenges to expanding your circle of human concern? It’s those louder thoughts that I just referred to which challenge me. Some of examples of the things flowing through my head that get in the way of seeing people through Christ’s eyes are things such as the desire to be liked or welcomed, the desire to tune out the world and its issues, and the fear of sacrifice that comes might come with standing up for the other.
What have you learned that may be helpful for all of us? Seeing people as distinctively unique creations rather than as others is a lifelong journey and an everyday practice.