An unexpected kindred spirit

“Well said, Teacher. You have spoken the truth, for there is one God, and there is none other than He. And to love Him with all the heart, with all the understanding, with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love one’s neighbour as oneself, is more than all the whole burnt offerings and sacrifices.”

Mark 12:32 - 33.

“Love will cover a multitude of sins”
1 Peter 4:8

In October I wrote about beginning my teaching Field Experience. At that time I realised that aside from the material benefits I may eventually gain, the situation had a purpose. That purpose was to spend the time loving God and others.

I ended up having an excellent time in many ways. Why? The school was a loving community. Even though I was different to most of the staff theologically, their enthusiasm for God, prayerfulness, and love for the students and other staff was a great blessing. They even gave me a special farewell afternoon tea!

Even more importantly, I had a wonderful supervising teacher. She was encouraging and helpful. I was also a blessing to her. She wished that she’d started out in life with the decision to walk in God’s ways, and enjoyed hearing about my life choices. By the end of the Field Experience, we felt a real oneness in spirit.

My supervising teacher was an unexpected kindred spirit. She is a working Mum of a three-year-old, a divorcee in her second marriage, and a Pentecostal. I am a newlywed Presbyterian who thinks day care is an abdication of the responsibility to train one’s children. Yet in Christ, we can love and learn from one another.

I share this story in the hope that I can encourage you, too, to focus on loving God and others in every situation. If love can cover over a multitude of sins, surely it can cover differences as well? Who knows, you may even find an unexpected kindred spirit along the way!