On our trips back and forth from upstate New York to the south, we travel Interstate 88. On the Schoharie county line there is an expanse of tree covered hills that towered far above the roads … each time we travel I marvel at the sight and think how it puts in perspective our place in the universe. In a sense we are mere dots in all that God has created. And yet there are those who think the trees are the mere dots … the mountains and streams are the mere dots. What they think, what they believe, what they want, what they do is all that matters. It’s a sad commentary, at least in my mind. Many, many years ago I remember our choir director telling us that when we sang we needed to hear less of our own voice but rather we should be able to hear the voices of those around us … that if we tried to sing the loudest we would ruin the balance of the music … the tones would be off … the beauty of the music would be lost. Life is like that … when we strive to let everyone know, through our words, how great we are … how intelligent we are … how much better we are than those around us … the beauty of the world becomes flawed. When we take it upon ourselves to belittle the beliefs of others, to negate the importance of feelings, needs and desires of others because they do not match ours … the world becomes a little uglier. Scripture tells us in Colossians 3 : “Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience, bearing with one another and, if one has a complaint against another, forgiving each other; as the Lord has forgiven you, so you also must forgive. And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony. “ Violence seems to be at an all time high … verbal and physical. I find it amazing to see posts on social media about stopping bullying, stopping hate only to later see berating posts from these same people about how another lives, thinks, and yes, even looks. “And above all these put on love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony.” I remember well the words my mother would say when someone stepped out of harmony … not stepping out in the righteousness of scripture (which is often their defense) but rather stepping out to push their point, their view, their desire, their belief … good, bad or indifferent … “actions speak louder than words.” We shouldn’t be in the business of cutting people off at the knees … of destroying their hearts and souls and minds … we are to be in the business of building people up... as written in Ephesians 4 :“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” My heart is heavy as I write this … I see so much hatred … hearts that are in very dark places ... hurt by another’s senseless actions.... hurt by people blaming, condemning all for the sake of a few ... even down to the point of the berating of attempts to reach out to people … writings of how good one person is over another because of the type of volunteering they are doing or not doing … it’s sad … it doesn’t produce harmony … it merely propagates more hate and violence. It needs to start with the individual … clean out your own heart first … open it to the peace, healing. warmth, love, hope and compassion that comes only from a right relationship with Abba, Father. As the days grow nearer to our celebration of the Christ Child’s birth may we be bathed in the hope, peace, joy and love of the season ... may we allow the light to shine into us and reflect from us ... may we trust in God ... give thanks for what we have ... and allow our own healing to begin ... May God bring this to fruition in our lives ... Be Blessed ... be a Blessing.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 13:14:23 +0000
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