When one of our grandsons was not quite three years old he was “spending the night” with Nanna and Poppa. The time came when he needed to use the bathroom and Poppa had not yet come home from work. So, I said to him, “I’ll take you.” “No, Nanna, no “gurls” allowed. So I’m waiting in the hall within ear shot and after an appropriate period of time, I hear him calling loudly, “Nanna, Nanna!”  I rushed in thinking he must have encountered a problem. When I entered the bathroom he had slid off the seat and was standing beside the toilet pulling on the handle that flushes the toilet. “Nan, me thinks it needs a battery.” From his perspective, if it wouldn’t work, it needed a battery.

I’ve thought about that a lot over the years. We all tend to see things from our own perspective, our own point of view depending on the circumstances of our life, depending on the life lessons we have encountered. Those differing points of view often cause conflicts and misunderstandings. Many times what one person says, and what the other person hears, are two entirely different things. We all need to work hard at trying to understand the other person’s point of view – to see things from their perspective. We must learn to be patient with each other. We must exercise humility and gentleness, remembering that God tells us to love others as ourselves.

In Phillipians 2:2, learn more.

Pat A. Bishop

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