In Acts 17, Paul has the guts, the audacity, to stand up in front of a group of strangers in a foreign city and proclaim Jesus Christ as risen from the dead.
“Some Epicurean and Stoic philosophers debated with him. Some said, ‘What does this babbler want to say?’ Others said, ‘He seems to be a proclaimer of foreign divinities.’ (This was because he was telling the good news about Jesus and the resurrection.)” – Acts 17:18
Here’s the truth: when we proclaim Jesus Christ as risen from the dead, when we live our lives with Jesus as our Lord, when we empower others to do the work of ministry through the Holy Spirit – some people will think that we are babbling idiots. They will say that we are wasting our lives. They will find our thoughts “foreign,” strange, different.
Sure, the good news may sound “foreign” and weird and incomprehensible. But I also thought that raw fish wrapped up with rice and fish eggs was gross until I tasted sushi. I thought that soccer was for Euro-trash and foreigners until I watched the World Cup.
What is foreign is not always bad. What is foreign may be the best thing you ever heard.
the rev. jimmy abbott 
An open mind and heart…it's a phrase we throw around a lot, but it's a lot harder to actually 'do'.
I think the first step is to acknowledge what seems foreign to us.
And then, if we can be 'still' with it, and if we let ourselves open up our mind to it, then we can begin to open our hearts to it.
And then, suddenly it becomes part of our being.
And once that happens, we can speak it's language, and communicate with others about it passionately.
Isn't that what the journey of Faith is all about?
Now, I don't know if sushi is part of my being…but I sure do like it…