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"Can I ...?"

"No."

"But everyone else is ..."

"If everyone else jumped off the cliff, would you do it?"

Does that exchange sound familiar?

It used the age old logic that just because something is common, that it is right.

But lets face it, if it is the dominant action/belief, that is "normal," and anyone who acts/thinks otherwise is not "normal." Some things are really benign differences, like whether or not you have pineapple on your pizza.

Some are differences are hazardous, like driving on the left side of the road in the United Staes, while in the United Kingdom- that is normal. What if racism was common? What if it was so common it dictated laws and structures to make sure that it was enforced?

Being an abolitionist in the antebellum South was illegal.

Harboring Jews in Nazi occupied Europe was illegal.

Normal does not always equal nice or right.

Once upon a time I remember these concepts- "common courtesy" and "common decency." Are they common anymore? Are they "normal?"

Not to be mean and rude and call people names was "normal" for me growing up. As it was expected for me to show gratefulness and kindness. It was expected that I adhered to those norms. 

Nowadays...?

What normal do you seek?  And are you willing to not be "normal" to do it?

(Read Philippians 2: 1-11, and Mark 5: 1-20)