Tag: Suffering

One Small Act…of Kindness

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Hello…it has been a while since I have written anything. There has been so much going on in life, in family, in country and in the world. Maybe it’s just that it feels to be a little more than overwhelming. Maybe I’ve been uninspired to write. Maybe I’ve not been intentional with making the time to write. Maybe it’s all of the above! We all know that the past 2 years have not been easy. It has been plagued with disease, fires, floods, death, mayhem and not just natural disasters, but human disasters as well and the list goes on.

How do we process and deal with the suffering that is happening all over the world? It’s so overwhelming and I know that I sometimes feel so helpless. I ask myself, what am I supposed to do? I’m one person. There are so many homeless, there are people that have lost homes due to wildfires, there are people still sick and dying from Covid and the floods in Germany, and here, in our own United States. What are we to do?

It’s not an easy answer and as I pass by the homeless man sitting on the ground as I walk into Starbucks, I’m sad, but ask myself, what is it that I can do to make his day a little brighter and to at least let him know that he has been seen? The most immediate thing I can do is buy him something to eat and drink. There is no greater satisfaction that I get than when I give of my own resources and see the smile that comes across his face as I hand him his food and drink. It’s not the food that changes his day, it’s the fact that someone acknowledged him, spoke to him, made him feel human, and didn’t just walk by without even looking. Everyone wants to be seen and acknowledged.

The only thing I know to do that will bring a little bit of positive change, is to continue doing the smallest acts of kindness when the opportunity presents itself. No, I can’t go fight fires…but I can give to the fire fighters fund, or make some cookies and take it to my local fire station to thank them. Maybe I can take a trunk full of donated clothes and shoes to the local homeless camp and let them take their pick. Perhaps I can house a family that has been displaced because they have been evacuated or their home just burned down. There are so many ways we can help and bring a bit of sunshine to someones life and to their day.

I am not ashamed to say that I am fortunate to have everything I need to live comfortably, not extravagantly, but comfortable. So, I can’t very well sit by and watch the suffering going on around me. The way that I can suffer with them, is to talk, to acknowledge, to assist, to fund, etc. in whatever way I can to make a difference by one small act of kindness. If every one of us could do this…the world would change!

How do you make a difference? I would love to hear!

The Wonder of Love

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Oh Holy Night, I wonder what would have happened if Mary had not been aware enough in herself and in her space the night the angel came and spoke to her. What if the shepherds and wise men would have never journeyed to find the manger? I wonder, would they have gone if they had not seen the star shining so bright in the night sky?

Did this night really happen the way it portrays in the Bible? I don’t know. I have come to believe that a lot of the Bible is metaphor. After all, Jesus always taught in parables. I definitely believe that Jesus was born into humanity and I believe Jesus was fully God and fully human at the same time. It’s almost too much for the human mind to comprehend.

If we allow ourselves the grace long enough to pause from our daily rat race and stop to think about how He came, who He was (and is), what He did with His time on this beautiful planet of ours and how He died…we would see how good He really is.

He came as a baby, the most vulnerable of all humanity but also through a young girl who gave room in her heart to believe the message of an angel. If an angel came to you would you believe it? I think I would be so awed by the angel that the message would almost escape me. 

He was a lover of humankind, a giver in every sense of the word and spent his time mingling with the poor and the sinners, but also spent his time with His disciples trying to show them, by modeling it Himself, how to love. THAT is why I believe He came. It was to show each one of us that we can look past our differences in religion, in skin color, in political preferences and in many other ways and see that He is the very essence of LOVE in every one of us, because we were created in His image, and potential likeness. Now our journey, while we are alive, is to be-come His likeness. To be-come ‘like’ Him, is to acquaint our selves with Him in love, life, pain, suffering and in death AND resurrection. It all goes together. We can’t have any of these without the all of them. Jesus never said we would not experience suffering or pain. He never said that we would only experience love and life. 

The point in the journey is to move towards be-coming whole. When we be-come whole we can be content with just ‘being’! Not having to perform to please people or keep up an image we think we should have. It’s about NOT denying if we are in a place of suffering. We have to embrace it all. Sometimes it’s not pleasant, nor easy. Embracing and accepting our humanity as imperfect, and yet, perfect to Him. 

Step into the wonder of His Presence, His Love, His Joy, His Peace, His Healing and His Suffering. Be-come whole in the journey and experience the freedom of living, moving and having your be-ing in Him. 

Merry Christmas and a Joyous New Year filled with His Love!