Thanks to A.A for the article. =)

'Teach me who you are'
by John Fischer

“Where can we have the intimate conversations that keep all of us from each other? Is it possible that we can be a safe place for individuals to just talk? What we really want to say to people is: 'I care about you. You are worth fighting for. Please teach me who you are.'” — Becky Kuhn

Becky Kuhn is a physician who works with HIV-positive individuals, and her statement is part of an awareness of HIV/AIDS that Kay Warren is trying to create among purpose driven churches as executive director of Saddleback's HIV/AIDS Initiative. Kay's goal is to make the church a safe place to talk about HIV/AIDS. She knows that's a tough assignment.

“As you begin to talk about HIV, remember the important question is not how someone got HIV,” Kay says. “The fact is many have it. The important question is: 'How can we serve those who have HIV?'”

If we could just get the impact of Becky's statement: Teach me who you are, we would all embark on a wealth of learning not only among people living with HIV, but in all our relationships.

What I'm thinking about here is having an attitude of learning from every individual I come across. It's ultimately a way of serving people. Think about it. If I come to you with the attitude, “Teach me who you are,” what does that say about you and me? It says that I don't fully know who you are. You exist outside my knowledge and experience of people. You could very well be outside my comfort zone. Most of all, you are different, and that poses a challenge to me. I can't assume that you are like me. Coming to know you may change the way I think. What if I find out you exist outside my categories of people? What if I find out that I actually like you when I am not supposed to based on social or religious prejudices? What am I going to do then? It puts me in a very vulnerable place to ask you to teach me about who you are.

To say: “Teach me who you are” automatically makes me a learner. I'm not only willing to be exposed to you; I want to learn from you. I want to sit at your feet. I want you to tell me what your life is like. I want to know what the world looks like to you, what I look like to you. What is it like standing inside your shoes?

How about trying it today? If we walked around with the attitude: “Teach me who you are,” even to those we think we know well, I bet we'd all be in for a big surprise.

posted by Graciana@Home at 3:51 pm