I’m not sure how Jay Caruso found my blog. But he did. And at some point he began to engage, which means he started leaving comments.

Now, I don’t know if this is exactly true, but from my perspective, every comment that Jay ever left was one that embraced the near opposite point of view of the one I was presenting. Which is fine. At least, it’s fine in THEORY. (But in reality it sucks.)

But then, based only on the comments he left on this blog, I began assuming a lot of things about Jay. I assumed I knew that the contents of Jay’s bookshelf probably included a host of Ann Coulter books. I assumed that he probably had dead animals decorating the walls of his house.

And I must confess that I assumed he was a jerk.

Why? Because he disagreed with me. Adamantly. And consistently.

Though I BELIEVED it was possible for two people to disagree on issues of theology, society, and politics AND STILL get along, one of the “footnotes” of that belief was Jay. Because he and I just seemed to always butt heads, I assumed he didn’t like me (and read my blog just to piss me off), and I assumed that I didn’t like him…

But I was wrong… well, I don’t know: he MIGHT have Ann Coulter books on his shelf. But I was wrong about the other stuff.

As we’ve gotten to know each other (through numerous disagreements regarding Obama and The Bachelor and Mark Driscoll), Jay and I have somehow learned how to disagree without defining the other person based solely on the things we disagree about.

Jay and I somehow got to a place where we started to like each other. Oh, we still disagree A LOT. But we get along. We’re not best friends. But that’s only because we’ve never actually met in person. But we’re community.

(Cue the strings…)

Once you get to know Jay’s heart, you begin to understand his passion. Like me, he’s opinionated and can often be blunt. But behind those opinionated blunt comments is a man who loves his family, loves his job, and loves his God. (Oh… and he’s a darn good photographer, too!)

And though I disagree with him a lot. I also sort of like him. And I refuse to let those disagreements get in the way of us being “community”…  🙂

… Yesterday I learned that Jay and his son are raising funds to take a mission trip to Africa. You can read about that trip here….

And I’m hoping that some of us here–as a part of Jay’s online community (whether we agree with him all the time or now)–might be willing to help him out. If that’s you… click here.

I was wrong to prejudge Jay. Oh, I still disagree with him–a lot.

But I refuse to let those disagreements define our ability to get along. People can agree to disagree and still be friends.

So please, if you can, help Jay out!

To follow Jay on Twitter, click here.

NOTE: I have no idea whether or not Jay likes Ann Coulter. 🙂