Have you ever looked at someone as they do something bizarre or unusual and asked them, "Where do you come from?" We ask that question of people in an offhanded sort of way, but the answer really is something to know. We meet people at a bus stop, in a coffee shop, in the cafeteria, and the impression we get of them is one singularly based on the way they look, act, and speak. But there's no context. What about the why? I've discovered that the best way to understand someone and really know them is to meet their family. I've viewed people as spacey, ignorant, emotional, uptight, angry, and on and on and have given them grace in my mind, knowing that there is a why but not really understanding it, but then I've met their sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, grandparents, parents, and the whole picture slides into place. Get someone around their family, and nothing really ends up seeming out of place. Everything is explainable, understandable, and forgivable in the context of the way they were raised and the environment in which they were taught to coexist and interact. I look at myself with my family and I begin to understand where my values, faults, and oddities come from, and it gives me a context, an excuse for grace, and a niche to fit into.
4/21/11
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