麻豆约拍

Good Morning

Today I am forced to think about my dislike of the word tolerance. According to an online dictionary, it means the ability or the willingness to tolerate the existence of opinions or behaviours that one dislikes or disagrees with. But when looking at the intent of the international day of tolerance which is observed every year on the 16th of November, the dictionary definition is not aligned with this observational day.

The International day of tolerance seeks to bring people together in peace, it seeks to find some form of understanding and, even mutual respect for other people's cultures, differences and the way that we individually chose to practice this very complicated task of being human.

So in this instance, more than tolerance being about enduring of that which we don鈥檛 like, it is asking us to be active in getting to the root of why we don鈥檛 like something and maybe even disrupting that notion that we have held on to. It may require us to do some investigating and digging into the things we do not understand about others, it may require us to interrogate our own assumptions and beliefs, and we may have to rethink the stories that we have heard and the stories that we have told. International day of tolerance invites us, to put away all of the things that separate us and to see each other as equals.

Dear God, help us with this great task of equality, give us the willingness to see things from the perspectives of others. Allow us not to be lost in our own narratives at the expense of others, help us to honour humanity and to do right.

Ameen