...Forgive Us Our Trespasses...

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

I overheard one end of the conversation between a Purchasing Agent for a large business and a supplier. The supplier, states away and looking at a computer monitor, was apparently trying to tell the purchaser what items the purchaser had "on hand". The purchaser, actually standing in the supply room and surveying its contents, was trying to set the supplier straight and acquire the items she needed.

"You don't know what's in my storage space, you can't tell me what I need."

Until we've been invited into someone's storage space -- that place where they keep the treasures, resources and even the broken things in their lives-- we need to be careful in telling the proprietor what they really need. We certainly don't need to barge into that place uninvited. It's called trespassing.

Some people affiliated with certain religious groups are notorious for forcing their way into people's storage spaces and telling them what they need.

It's not about trying to "sell" your beliefs to someone who's "not in the market"; or about trying to "win the case" by having an "airtight defense". It's not about winning an argument or proving that I'm right and they're wrong.

It's just about loving the person that God puts in front of you at any given moment. Then, if in the course of conversation, you're invited into their storage space-- if they trust you enough to reveal a need or point out something that's broken--then you can enter that sacred space; but even then you need to proceed gently and with incredible respect.