I love talking.

Spring is here. The days are sunny, warm-ish, and the birds are singing. Tagging along with the arrival of Spring is the Easter Break. I'm fortunate enough to be studying in Austria right now, where the Easter holiday is much different than in the US. I mean, maybe the holiday isn't much different, but we get a break from school. Not just any break. It's nothing like Spring Break. It's two weeks; much better. My break started two days ago after my Thursday morning Linguistics course, and since then, I've had nothing to do except move to a new room in a new building. Let me tell you, there are no dorms at UNI as nice as the dorm I just moved into here. It's very high-tech, like I'm living with the Jetson's or something.

Other than moving, I've spent a lot of my time with friends. Today, we sat outside together, enjoying the beautiful weather and a couple cups of coffee. I was sitting at a table with a girl from Austria and a boy from Portugal when a very common theme found it's way to our conversation: languages. I say this is a very common theme because it is a topic that comes up in nearly every conversation; reason being, we are all from different countries with different languages. Conversations at one table at one time can be in English, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Italian, and so on, therefore, it's a common theme. We are always comparing our own languages to the other languages we know, and our own abilities to speak each of them. We talk about the differences between American English and British English, German and Dutch, Spanish and Italian, so on and so forth. In short, the conversation is always interesting because it's comparing not only languages but cultures and people, and in the end, we all agree that the most important aspect of any language is simply communication. It doesn't matter how great or poor you speak a language, rather, what's important is communication.

This is the answer that we come to time and time again. I love the topic, though, because it proves to me that somewhere inside all of us is a commonality. No matter how different we are, no matter where we come from, what we study, what we speak, or anything else, there is a commonality. That commonality manifests itself in these conversations.

Let me tell you, since I've been in Europe, I can't tell you how many people have told me that I'm not like the Americans they see in the movies or on television. Every time I talk to people, stereotypes that were created by music, television, films, and newspapers are broken. It's not just for me, either. In the same conversations as the language ones, people are saying, "Wow, you really aren't like the Italians I've heard about from my friends" or "You know, I always thought Germans were a lot meaner, but you seem to be different." Through communication, prejudices and false ideas seem to be tossed aside and replaced by truth. It's amazing how many ideas we have built up in our heads about people who are different than us just because of what we see in the media, or what our family and friends tell us. If your cousin told you that he met an Austrian one time who was the ugliest person he had ever seen, it wouldn't make sense to believe that the ugliest people in the world all congregated in Austria hundreds of years ago in order keep the ugly gene in their gene pool. That's not how it works, people are individuals and it is impossible to define a single person from a potentially far off idea you heard somewhere. How many people are there in the world with the potential to change your life, or you there's, because of an idea you have stuck in your head?

Take this down to an even smaller step. A couple weeks ago, I met a guy from Germany. The first question he asked me was where I was from. I answered, "America." He proceeded to tell me that wasn't possible because America is a continent, not a country. I figured that he was a jerk, so I turned around and stopped talking to him. Three days ago, I went to the kitchen to ask for help with a German grammar exercise. I asked a friend of mine who was in the kitchen, but when she didn't know the answer, it came from someone else in the room. The guy, who I had previously written off for a jerk, helped me with my homework, and showed me that he could not be defined by one line in one conversation. My earlier idea of him and who he was, restricted our current friendship from being several weeks older than it is now.

How many other people in my life have I written off because of something they said or did to me once? How many people have you stopped talking to because of one particular incident, or something one of your friends told you about them? I think it's a shame that we could go so long, even our entire lives, with thoughts about people that are entirely false just because of our refusal to seek the actual truth about them. It sucks to think that we could go so long missing something so good as a friendship because of a stupid idea that turns out to be false.

That thought scares me because I wonder the same thing about God. How many times has He been falsely represented by people? How many people are turned away completely from the only Person who knows anything because of something they heard or saw that isn't actually True? Think about it. How many people do you see on TV or in the news saying that they are doing something in God's name, but turn out to only be acting in the name of themselves? It's scary to think. Millions of people are turned away from eternal salvation because of prejudices and lies. People are not only turned away from Christ by the falsehoods, but they start to spread the lies themselves when they see people in city squares or college campuses preaching condemnation in the name of their savior. How many people are being saved by people showing signs saying Jesus hates gays, liberals, fornicators, liars, and so on? I would bet the answer is slim to none. I've seen those signs, and I've heard people preaching from benches saying that we all need to repent for our sins. But why not talk about forgiveness? Why not tell people about the compassion of Jesus? I think it would be so much better. Think of how many people would be brought closer rather than pushed away.

As always, I hope that this makes sense to you. I write in every blog that these are just my ideas, and that I hope you think in your own way, not mine. I am filled with prejudices, just like most of you, but I am trying to let them go. I want to give everybody a chance, and I want to make sure I'm not spreading lies like the ones I've written about. The most important thing, though, in not spreading lies, is knowing the Truth. We can't help people if we don't know that first. Try to point people in the right direction this upcoming week. Rather than telling them the negative things you just heard from your friend, tell them about something positive. We have to stay positive. We have to stop spreading lies. It's the only way for the Truth to be known.