A Different Kind of Person

...none of [this person's] beliefs repulsed me or pushed me away.

It's rare to find someone who has a different point-of-view as you have and yet not feel "different" towards that person. It's so rare, in fact, that I have only met one such person. Only one.

Let me put it this way. Consider someone you know who has a different ethnic background as you have, and therefore has a different set of beliefs. At some point during one of your conversations, that person says something that is contrary to your principles-- so utterly opposite, in fact, that all your heightened senses start picking up the same thing: a bloodbath is going to happen any second now. Well, maybe not a bloodbath-- a momentary heated exchange of words, perhaps, or a long-lasting cold shoulder-- just something that defines the radical change of perception you just had for that person.

That, I believe, is the natural course of things. To disassociate yourself with people who have a clearly defined set of beliefs different from yours.

With this singular, unique person, however, I found myself responding to no such natural urge. Whatever this person's beliefs were, none of them ever repulsed me or pushed me away. Of course, I was saddened by this difference, by this discrepancy, but none of what I felt would change things, anyway. In the end, this person's personality had already won me over; the affinity was already established even before the fateful words were said.