I have seen a lot of things:  I have seen people discriminated against for no reason; I have seen people treated like freaks simply because they were different.  Unfortunately, I have not seen a lot of compassion and understanding between highly differing ideologies.  I have no earthly idea about the two men on whom I am about to write but I shall attempt to convey what I know.  My little one and I frequent a certain grocery store because it carries organic, gluten free, etc.  I will confess though that my husband, a very staid, cradle Episcopalian, refers to their help as “hippy granola”.  There is whom I believe to be a transgendered individual working there who is a white man but with long, flowing green hair.  I do NOT wish to speak for him; this is simply what I have observed.  On the polar opposite end of the spectrum is a man from West Africa who is clearly an evangelical Christian.  I think he makes people uncomfortable with his continual singing, whether he is in line bagging or simply walking around.  Even if I were not Christian I find him infectious and uplifting.  But I notice a lot of people — from workers to customers — simply do not know what to do with him.  How sad it is indeed that someone cannot recognize joy when they see it; even if it does not come from their own particular ideology.  The neat thing is I have witnessed an incredible comradery between these two men.  How unexpected; and how lovely.  While I have watched people shrink away from both men I have seen this incongruous pair joke and comfortably chat with each other — and it has made my heart soar.  They could not be more divergent; and yet each is GENUINELY accepting of the other.  What a lesson I find we can all learn from these two.  Stop staring at the person with the green hair scanning your groceries and stop staring at the man who is openly singing “Allelujah!” as he bags your groceries.  Just take them as they are.  Were they kind to you during your check-out?  Well then, there you go.  No one is trying to push their agenda on you — whether it is the gay guy or the highly evangelical guy; they are simply trying to lead their own lives.  Israeli leader Golda Meir once said, “Trust yourself.  Create the kind of self that you will be happy to live with all your life.  Make the most of yourself by fanning the tiny, inner sparks of possibility into flames of achievement.”  I believe both men are doing that; and my little one is happy with each of them.  Live and let live.  Pray if you choose but allow people to be who they are and just accept them.  God created each one of us and I believe we should respect that.  Can I get an “Amen”?