{"id":829,"date":"2017-03-31T22:00:56","date_gmt":"2017-04-01T03:00:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=829"},"modified":"2017-03-31T09:41:01","modified_gmt":"2017-03-31T14:41:01","slug":"love-the-one-youre-with","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=829","title":{"rendered":"Love The One You’re With"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tribe.<\/strong> n<\/em>.\u00a0a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest<\/p>\n

“If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:18 ESV<\/em><\/p>\n

I recently enjoyed the company of a three year old for\u00a0a few days\u2014the daughter of good friends. She lives in another town, one quite a bit different from mine, so our time together\u00a0was a vacation from her\u00a0routine in every way. The schedule\u00a0was relaxed,\u00a0and the activities were exciting. It was easy to see she had mixed emotions as\u00a0the visit\u00a0drew to a close: She didn’t want\u00a0it to end\u2014she was having buckets\u00a0of fun\u2014but she missed her family, too. As it happened, there was a family dinner\u00a0the night of her return home. At one point in the evening, I noticed her at the other end of the table, nestled among cousins, aunts and uncles, mom and dad, grandparents and great-grandparents, a big shining smile on her face. She looked so\u00a0very\u00a0contented\u00a0to be with her people\u00a0again, to be among those with whom she shares life day to day and week to week. She’s back with her tribe<\/em>, I thought.<\/p>\n

I Googled “Tribe” and found everything from “7 tips to finding your tribe” to “The 3-step plan to find your tribe” to “Your vibe attracts your tribe.” That last one’s especially\u00a0catchy, don’t you think? These weren’t new websites, either. Apparently, we’ve been talking tribal for years. I hear the term used a lot among writers, as in, “Find your tribe!”<\/p>\n

Okay. Sure. That sounds good.<\/p>\n

Our infatuation with the term “diversity” notwithstanding, we humans are tribal. “Birds of a feather flock together,” we’ve said for as long as there have been words and birds. As surely as the moon pulls the tides, we’re pulled toward like-minded people. We don’t have to work at it, even if we’re only three years old. And guess what. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s okay to want to be with people who value what we value, who see the world as we see it, who think the way we we think. People who, if we can’t finish their sentences, at least we comprehend them. In fact, I think it’s healthy to acknowledge that we, as humans, need our tribes. We just don’t need them to the exclusion of everyone else.<\/p>\n

I once knew a man, years in the grave now, who was born and raised on a farm. He never traveled beyond fifty miles or so from the house where he was born, the house in which he lived until he was an old man. He never knew anyone outside his family and neighbors, not really. He could read and write, but he did not read or write. He was the most opinionated person I’ve ever met, and he never saw a reason to entertain\u00a0opinions that were different from his. Folks with highfalutin\u00a0ideas were just plain stupid.\u00a0My old acquaintance seems awfully dull and provincial to us more sophisticated types, but I’m not convinced he was all that different from us. I think maybe he just didn’t know how to put enough spit and shine on his narrow-mindedness to make it look like something else.<\/p>\n

We are more alike than different, and we’re most alike in our bonds with our peeps. It’s a generous play to give people who are outside our tribe\u00a0the liberty to be different, without judging them. But it seems like the right play. In fact, it’s probably the only play that has a future for every tribe and tongue.<\/p>\n

Well, there’s a rose in a fisted glove,<\/em>
\nAnd the eagle flies with the dove,<\/em>
\nAnd if you can’t be with the one you love, honey,<\/em>
\nLove the one you’re with.<\/em><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tribe. n.\u00a0a group of persons having a common character, occupation, or interest “If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” Romans 12:18 ESV I recently enjoyed the company of a three year old for\u00a0a few … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8Mo02-dn","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":437,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=437","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":0},"title":"Stella!","author":"lsimonds","date":"January 1, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cThis is the will of the Father who sent Me, that of all He has given Me I should lose nothing, but should raise it up at the last day.\u201d John 6:39 About a year and a half ago, against good judgment, I adopted a black and white Pomeranian out\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "2015"","block_context":{"text":"2015","link":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?cat=13"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":71,"url":"https:\/\/melissakaysimonds.com\/?p=71","url_meta":{"origin":829,"position":1},"title":"Don’t Fake Faith","author":"lsimonds","date":"October 1, 2002","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cBut when he saw that the wind was boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink he cried out, saying, \u2018Lord, save me!\u2019\u201d Matthew 14:30 Not too long ago, I heard about a woman who was diagnosed with kidney disease among about a dozen other ailments. 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