Chaplain's Reflections

It can be tempting to put people in boxes. There's them and us; the people we relate to and the ones we would rather avoid; the privileged and those who are just getting by; the able and the disabled; the people we think of as Australian and the others we label as foreigners; and so on. 

We put people in boxes by using labels and making assumptions, and we keep them in boxes by associating only with people who are familiar and reassuring to ourselves. We make little effort to get to know people in other boxes, telling ourselves that there is no benefit in going out of our way to include them. It's easier to ignore them than to hear of their challenges or acknowledge their accomplishments. As myths and assumptions go unchallenged, we become less empathetic and our prejudices are reinforced.

The problem is by putting people in boxes we fail to see all that we share. Boxes divide us and close down opportunities for dialogue. It takes a major event or a deliberate effort to break through the boxes we have built around ourselves. Only through shared experiences and conversations do we have the chance to truly listen and hear our own hopes and fears, disappointments and successes in someone else's story. 

In St Paul's Letter to the Galatians, he tells a group of new Christians "there is no Jew or Gentile, slave or free, male or female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus" (Gal 3.28). In his lifetime, Jesus broke down boxes and accepted all kinds of people. He broke bread with tax collectors, welcomed children and offered living water to sinners. In following Jesus' example, we become open to a much deeper and more compassionate understanding of others and ourselves.