I think most of you know my friend Mandy. If you don't, you should. She's incredible. Back on the Q's & A's post, she suggested I have some friends write for Four-Minute Friday. I decided to take her up on her idea...

I asked her to write one.

So here's Mandy Thompson... on apples and oranges:

Go.

I think sometimes we can focus so strongly on the differences between us that we begin to see people as being completely "other than" us. We stare at the differences until the only conclusion is that we're different creatures - different beings - different at a core level.

Like comparing Apples and Oranges.

But this couldn't be further from the truth. Our outsides may look different in size, color, and even shape, but we all have the same kind of skin, and the same type of insides. And we can all bruise. And if you throw a bunch of apples in a bag and shake them up, they will bruise one another.

We forget this. We just jump in the bag and hurt and harm others.

We also forget that, buried safely beneath the surface, at the core of who we are, seeds are waiting on the moment when they can grow - bring life from that apple. We all have dreams and plans and desires inside of us. We all have gifts and potential to give MORE to the world - more than who we are in and of ourselves.

Each apple has within it the ability to be a life-giving tree... if given the chance.

But do we give others the chance? And do we give ourselves the chance? Or are we stuck nursing our own bruisings? Or too distracted by the outside differences that separate us from others?

Done.