Always choose love when faced with division and hatred
Rebecca saw the man approach with his camels. This is not exactly how the Torah describes it in Genesis 24:15, but these are the details I imagine filled in the story.
The man, Abraham’s trusty servant, was dusty and dirty, clearly parched from his long trek through the desert. Like the rest of the young women of her encampment, Rebecca had been making her daily visit to the local well, tasked with fetching water for the family. Unlike the rest of the young women, however, who saw the man approach but then turned their backs, back to their gossip or their chores, Rebecca did not turn away.
Instead, she approached the man. “Can I offer you water?” she asked. “Can I give your camels water, too?” Alone among all the women at the well, Rebecca stood out — not because she spent months planning how to respond. Not because she risked her life. Not because she spoke to God or was even particularly religious. Rebecca stood out because she made a choice in that moment — to turn away, or to turn toward. To choose to ignore, or to choose to be kind. To choose fear, or to choose love. Rebecca chose to turn toward the stranger, to be kind, and to choose love.
My cousin Seth was driving to work a couple of weeks ago in the Washington, D.C., area. He needed to change lanes, and so he put on his blinker to go as another driver, a woman in the lane he wanted to change into, wasn’t moving ahead. Suddenly, she started honking like crazy, and he could see her shouting, “No, no! You can’t do that!”
Then a block later, she needed to get into his lane. His immediate thought was that he was going to honk, shout, speed up and not let her in. But instead, he tapped on his brake, wove her in, and she was able to make her turn. A few blocks away, they pulled next to each other, and she looked at him, and he looked at her. She then started to yell again. He took a breath and said, “Be nice. Be nice, and breathe.” He is