LOVING KINDNESS

It's not always easy to show love and kindness, especially to those whose behavior we perceive as having hurt us. No one promised being a human being would be easy. And if you are striving to be a loving human as Jesus Christ was, it's even more challenging. 

Ever since I was a little girl, I felt a deep connection with Jesus. I think that interest and inspiration happened after watching all those biblical movies that came out in the 50's and 60's: BEN HUR, THE GREATEST STORY EVER TOLD, THE ROBE, to name a few. I was a small child of seven or eight when my oldest brother Richard who was friends with my then-teacher, Jack, took our entire class to see BEN HUR in one of those big old theatres in downtown St. Louis - from another era. BEN HUR was pretty violent for a 7 year old girl, but, somehow it grabbed me and fascinated me. Any movie since that time with a spiritual nature has drawn me to it.

The most powerful one, made in 2004, produced by Mel Gibson and starring Jim Caviezel is a riveting portrayal of the way Jesus' life and the lives of his disciples, his Mother, Mary and Mary Magdelene unfolded over 2000 years ago. How could one not be deeply touched by the powerful scenes of judgment, scourging and crucifixion that took place. I think this is the most realistic movie of Christ's life and death that I have ever seen. I have watched it over and over - it is so powerful.

But it's power would be lost on me, on its audience if it did not move me, move us, to behave differently after seeing it. The power of the WORD is only effective if we actively seek to apply it to our lives on a daily basis. This is seldom easy.

As you know, I am currently living in a nursing home environment where, as soon as you walk in the door, so many personal freedoms and privacy disappear. I'm working to leave here and live independently again, as I have mentioned in a former blog. BUT in the meantime I have to live the best life possible. That's challenging when you share a small bedroom and bathroom with someone else, a mere curtain separating me from my neighbor, who is sweet. But whatever is going on with her impacts me and vice versa. 

That is why I sit in this room at the end of my hall for so many hours each day. I pray here, I write here, I draw here, I view spiritual movies on YouTube. Fortunately there are many very good ones available today. Viewing these makes me think - certainly hope - that humans are finally getting the message that if we do not come together to save one another and to save our planet, neither will be around much longer. Global warming is very real. Human trafficking is very real. War and destruction are very real.

But the good news is that I - that all of us - have the ability, once our eyes have been opened, to begin to make changes in our personal lives and in the lives we touch, whose lives touch so many others as well. "What the World Needs Now is Love, Sweet Love" is not just a pretty song. It is an accurate statement for our time and place in history.

It is up to us to be the change, to make the difference, daily in our interactions large and small.

We truly do have the ability to change the world - one person at a time.

Just "try a little tenderness" and take time on a daily basis to connect with Jesus and our Father in Heaven who loves us beyond all human comprehension. Jesus died on the cross to cleanse us of our sins. So it is our responsibility to live as morally and lovingly as we can in order to be happy and at peace, and to help others feel loved and at peace.

SHALOM MY FRIENDS, NAMASTE, GOD BLESS YOU