less is more....

would you feel humiliation if this person were you? Step inside his world for a moment....

                                  When is enough...enough? 

How much does it take to make someone happy? I was reading about celebrities in their 25,000 foot mansions, how one bank just laid off 30,000 workers, yet posted a profit in the first half of this year of 11.5 BILLION dollars and I wonder...when does it stop? Due to famine, there are people starving half a world away, due to floods, folks have no home, due to drought, farmers have lost everything. Teachers, the backbone of our society, get paid so little compared to sports players who get mega-millions every year to catch a ball...I shake my head in disbelief. 

I think also of petty injustices in our homes with families/relationships, because the global scale stuff boggles my mind. I feel so helpless! Peace and charity do begin at home. But what if you have done your share and still feel the arrows anyway? What if you have apologized for an unintended hurt, and it is kept on account that you erred, what if you have given despite your circumstances and you're still considered an outcast, then what? The natural desire is to get even, to make them feel the pain they caused you. Or to slink away and cry, because "they" hurt you.

My friend, "they" don't care about your feelings, because "they" are too wrapped up in what they perceive as "right." And by retaliating, you are just adding fuel to their fire. The better thing to do is to rise above it...with grace! Let them sling their arrows, grace will cause those arrows to deflect rather than pierce. Set that good example. Be a maker of peace. This does NOT mean you have to be the victim, the doormat...NO! Do not ever succumb to that! Rise above it, stand up for what is good without creating turmoil.

I think about Martin Luther King. His march on Washington D.C. to bring justice to folks who were in the minority. A peaceful demonstration that now has it's roots set in history. Washington D.C. now has a statue commemorating that event. Peace won out. He rose above the situation with grace.

It doesn't have to be as momentous as that, but do you see my point? Whether a family situation or something involving your town, your neighborhood-- if it calls for action, do it in a positive way...be the bearer of peace. As Eleanor Roosevelt once said, "no one can make you feel inferior without your consent." So instead of turning a perceived slight into bitterness and anger, turn it into a positive...do something for good. Leave that ripple in the water, speak up for justice, rise above everything with grace.