My Love Languages, Part I

Did you know that I have two main love languages? They are greetings and words of affirmation.

I've talked about greetings before. The way someone greets me can sometimes make or break my day. I think that's one thing that I love about Middle Eastern culture: it's considered rude if you don't greet someone when you come into the room. Of course, even when the greetings are all in Arabic you can tell who doesn't have their heart in it, but I decided that it doesn't matter and I can pour all of my warmth into the greeting.

"Alsalamalakum! Kaif halish?"

"Wa alakum alsalam. Alhamdulallah. Kaif halish?"

*Beam*Beam*

If the person doesn't have their heart in it, I don't mind. I figure that they must feel nervous around Westerners or they don't have the same Hope that I have.

But when I walk around my own Christian community and I get very little warmth from someone in a greeting, my often bad day usually just gets badder. Or what often happens is that some people don't greet me at all--that was one of the weird things about coming back. Then I can't figure out if I should charge forth with a smile and greet them anyway, or stay safe by being quiet so I don't have to risk their tepid response.

I know everybody can't be cheerful all the time. I've had an unusual bout of uncheerfulness lately that I've felt convicted about because I think it can be summed up in self-pity. So I understand that life isn't always peachy.

But, but, don't we have a responsibility to show love to each other even when we don't feel great all the time?

Because with most people around me, I can't assume that they're nervous around Westerners. And I know that they have the Hope that I have.

So what's our problem?

I say "our" because I recognize that I've let life drag me down lately too. I have not let the joy of Christ shine through me all the time. But when we stop to think about it, as followers of Christ we really do have it made. As a recently passed family friend used to say:

"I've had a few bad moments, but never a bad day."

Let's remember the stuff that our new hearts are made of. I don't want a stranger on the street to assume that I'm tepid because I don't have the Hope that they have.