"Jesus
knows our every weakness. He understands our every experience. He knows
about our every struggle, every lust, every lure, every appeal of
temptation, every impure thought, every addiction, all of our ugliness,
all our bad habits. He knows every sorrow, He knows our pain. Jesus
understands our brokenness. Because He is fully divine, He is the Son
of God."
Two days ago a friend posted that his brother came "out of the closet" in college about being gay. He described the hardships that this person went through and still endures today. Many responses were in judgment against this person, which really swayed me! One doesn't wake up one day and choose to be different from the norm. Yet there it was, many with quotations from the Bible about why this person was an abomination against society. It made me think of the many other people for whom society casts out: homeless, hungry, the obese, those who are alcoholic, drug addicts, mentally ill, veterans for whom life no longer holds any meaning, the uneducated, jobless, ethnic races, the list goes on. If you are different from me, then it seems that I have a reason to cast you out!
The question lingers: what would Jesus do? Seems to me He had contempt for the scribes and Pharisees who stood in judgment of others, instead befriending those for whom society had cast out.
A statistic from my own state of Minnesota says that 28% of the children born today are minorities. Soon Caucasians will become a minority in our country as other groups are born in. Our economy is still teetering on the brink, yet it seems we have a "kill or be killed" attitude regarding money. The wealthy are hoarding their money at the expense of the hard working middle class.Why should I care about you, when all I can do is worry about myself? My husband said he heard on the news about a store that was closing and how a millionaire bought out all of its merchandise, with the express intent of it going to those who needed it the most. Now that is true philanthropy!
I bring all of this up because as I was watching my three kittens the last few weeks grow, they already have a caste system in place. Oh yes, they do get along, but then again, they have their roles. The biggest one gets to the food dish first, so I have to make certain there is enough for the runt, who would have been cast out and left to die had they lived in the wild. The middle kitten decided he didn't want to wean and because of this, the other two refused to play or interact with it, almost as if they felt that soon he wouldn't be around, so why bother? I made every effort to get him to eat and found something he liked. Now because he is "one of the pack," he has been accepted back in. Unfortunately though, for many people, there is a caste system in place...remember the phrase, "the wrong side of the tracks?" and if you were "unfortunate" to be from "there," it was hard to fit in, be it at school, or anywhere.
Look around you and see how you interact with others. Do you shun the ones who are different from you, be it race, creed, income level? Or do you make every effort to reach out to them? What about the beggars, the homeless, the hungry? I know of a woman who made a huge deal out of the fact that she gave food to a food shelf. Turned out it was old, outdated food that no one wanted. If she wouldn't eat it, why would anyone else? Just because a person is on hard times doesn't make them any different from us....they still enjoy a good slice of cake, just as we all do! Income has no bearing on that, yet it seems that food shelves get so much mac n cheese....how about a nice can of soup with real meat chunks instead?
We are all in this thing called life together...let's all embrace each other and shoulder that burden together. Build one another up. Be that source of support. You just never know...someday, it may be you who is in need.
have you ever thought that maybe its just survival of the fittest? In Nature, as you pointed out, it is imperative that one be like the rest or else it dies. maybe real life is that way...maybe that person should either assimilate or hit the road. Druggies and alkies don't have to do what they do...self control, remember?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of value do you put on a human life? The Forbes 400 top richest people report recently came out and there are people who are said to be “worth” billions of dollars.
ReplyDeleteAs I look over the list I see what kind of impact these people have made on the world, some of it because of the financial abundance they have acquired. Then there are others, unknown to the entire world, with very little material means, that are of infinite worth.
They too may make a contribution in another’s life that could not have a dollar value placed on it. Everyone born into this world is of priceless worth. Sometimes it just takes the validation of others or the acquisition of assets to feel that way. What if each person we encountered left our presence feeling as if they were of great value to us. What if we looked at them and our thoughts immediately went to seeing the positive in them and recognizing what they contribute to this world. What if each person could look in the mirror and realize their own worth without being told or shown by others.
If we all could have that kind of understanding about the worth of a human soul without having to prove it or have it validated by others, then it just may be a much more peaceful world. Let’s start one person at a time — you. ~ K.Wierman
Holy Cow!!
ReplyDeleteK. Wierman - are you Jesus, undercover, or WHAT! It is all so obviouse to those of us who could not meet the "Expected" monetary judgements of others!
There is no monetary or so called "worthy" values in this life. Live it, and respect the ones who gave it to you! You truly only contribute the truth, not the imaginary idealizations of others.
"Do unto others as you would have done unto you".
I want to thank you all for supporting "The Rev."
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ReplyDeleteto rob and to all who are in rob's boat: "judge not and ye not be judged...." you'd have nothing to fear had others not cast their opinions on you. Just be true to yourself...yes, even if it means doing what others feel is wrong. Live your lives well, by looking out for those weaker than you. This is the true path, not the phony one of saying one thing and doing another!
ReplyDelete