Acceptance...

Acceptance...  Once again this year we were invited to the local LDS church ward's Christmas party.  We went last year, and greatly enjoyed it.  Last night we went for the second year, and enjoyed it just as much.  Mid-way through the experience last night I got to pondering just why I derived so much enjoyment from this event.  It's certainly not the religious aspect, as none of what was being celebrated is meaningful for me.  It wasn't the quality of the production (ward kids doing a Nativity sketch), as from any objective perspective that was simply awful.  Sweet, cute, and full of laughs – but the singing was atrocious, the kids were all over the place, and the plot was hard to discern.  The food was darned good, but we can get great food in lots of places here.  The essence, I think, is that we were amongst friends – lots of them – and neighbors who have accepted us into their community.  Though we don't share their religion and don't behave in ways they approve of, they treat us exactly as though we did.  We count members of this group as our close friends, and vice versa.  Any of these people would help us if we needed it, and we've been able to help some of them when they needed it.  We're part of a real community here, fully accepted into it – and that's what made the evening so enjoyable...