Assimilation - Part 4 continued.

I read an article yesterday after writing my post that goes right along with the "us vs them" mentality that I spoke to. You can view the article here. Below are the first two and the last paragraph of the article from Outreach Magazine.

In April 2003, National Public Radio aired a news story about a standoff between an angry mob of Iraqi Shiites and a heavily armored patrol from the American 101st Airborne Division. Fearing that the soldiers were about to desecrate their holy shrine, hundreds of unarmed civilians pressed in toward the soldiers, waving their hands and shouting defiantly. Although the patrol's intentions were peaceful, the standoff would most likely have ended in tragedy—had it not been for the quick thinking of U.S. Lt. Col. Christopher Hughes.

The commanding officer that day, Hughes picked up a loudspeaker and barked three simple commands to his group. First, he told them to take a knee; second, to point their weapons toward the ground; and finally, to look up and give everyone in the hostile crowd a friendly smile. Within moments of obeying his orders, NPR reported, the troops saw the crowd's demeanor transform. Hostility and defiance melted away, as smiles and friendly pats on the back replaced shaking fists and screaming voices.

Lt. Col. Hughes saved the day as he acted in wisdom toward the Iraqis. I pray that the Church will follow his example. Let's take a knee (a position of humility, whereby we come as listeners and wonderers—not know-it-alls). Let's point our guns to the ground (backing away from the confrontational attempts to overpower people with our dogmatic certainty). And let's look up and smile (communicate that we're warm, friendly people who come to build bridges of care).