tolerance (part 1)

(this is for kimber): tolerance has many definitions. here are a few:

• the power or capacity of an organism to tolerate unfavorable environmental conditions
• permissiveness: a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior
• the act of tolerating something (i hate when dictionaries use the word to define itself!)
• willingness to recognize and respect the beliefs or practices of others
• allowance: a permissible difference; allowing some freedom to move within lim

i think the bolded one is the definition our society would adopt. 

i just got back from an all day event with the youth group at missio dei. we went to la to tour the museum of tolerance. i was excited, but also apathetic since i had been to the holocaust museum in dc and the genocide memorial/museum in rwanda. 

but i was challenged.

a lot.

i felt sick most of the tour and it took a lot to hold back a physical reaction to the emotional, well, stuff we were being exposed to, (by physical reaction i don't mean barfing. i think just falling to my face and weeping). 

i haven't fully processed the day, but i know i was challenged not just to "be a better person," but to understand why i believe what i do. most importantly, i was challenged to love more. and not love in human or worldly terms, but to love as Christ loved. to lay down my life, not simply to save their physical life, but in order to further the name of Christ amongst every person.

this is all for now. i'm sure there will be another blog to follow as i process more clearly.