Tolerance vs. Acceptance

Each morning and night I sit and think about what I want to write out here for the world to see.  Occasionally I will be inspired prior to sitting at the computer, but most often I pull my idea from thin air and develop it from my own head and past experiences.  These are hot of the presses my friends, I don't type them a month in advance and then post them, so I hope you are enjoying my twice daily insights! 

That being said, something that I often think about is tolerance.  How this world has preached tolerance of others and their beliefs.  I go beyond tolerance, I believe in acceptance, full and complete acceptance.  I come from a religious upbringing, a very religious upbringing.  Church every Sunday, activities during the week, and even as we entered high school we had religious classes every weekday.  I am a Christian, the denomination is not relevant, but having a belief in Christ is based fundamentally in love of your fellow human beings, despite everything. 

Tolerance doesn't illustrate love to me, it gives me an image of someone you are keeping at arms length and how you will sit with, but you hope will not rub off on you.  In one of my previous posts I indicated that our life is shaped by our priorities, and so each person is who they are.  To tolerate them sounds to me, that we say okay I will "put up" with you and all your faults.  Can you really call yourself a Christian if you don't love that person who is comprised of their faults?  I can't honestly say that I have met a person who didn't have something good about them.  

I am nowhere close to perfect, I may not particularly like someone, but it has nothing to do with their personal decisions about religion, sexuality, or where they come from.  Everyday is a struggle to balance my humanity with my aspirations to be perfect.  My mother, however, instilled in me acceptance of all, no matter what.  You never know the gifts that someone has to share within them; you will never know unless you move past all preconceived notions and accept them for who they are.   I don't believe in tolerance, I believe in acceptance.