Thirty years ago the city of Los Angeles exploded after one of the first publicized examples of police brutality in the Rodney King beating. Rodney King himself challenged the city with a provocative question: “Can’t we all get along?” What makes doing so difficult is the human tendency to label those who don’t look like us or talk like us or come from a different country as “other.” Since they are other they don’t deserve the same kind of care and compassion as those of my own tribe. The story of Ruth in the Bible teaches us a way past labeling the “other.” When she is treated with compassion despite the fact that she was not Jewish she asked, “Why should I, a foreigner, be favored with your notice?” The answer was that her actions had shown her to be a person of loyalty, kindness and generosity — and everyone wants that kind of person in their tribe. In our day when political divisions are hardening into a demonization of the other side it becomes incumbent on us to see the true humanity in those who have different opinions. We can all get along once we understand what it means to be “we” — not a collection of isolated individuals but a people who share a common identity as part of the family of God.
