It's not the world I want. It sickens me. But complaining doesn't do any good. I can't change others. I can only change me. And what I do has ripples. The world I want, truly want, is the world I work toward.
Today I've been fighting frustration over the world all day. I'm disgusted by a world where it's okay to not keep your word, where taking advantage of others is covered by a smile, where words are hollow and meaningless, where people can't be nice to each other for no reason without it raising eyebrows. It's not the world I want. It sickens me. But complaining doesn't do any good. I can't change others. I can only change me. And what I do has ripples. The world I want, truly want, is the world I work toward.
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Sometimes lending a helping hand is its own reward.
There's so much more to life than money. Chasing something so fleeting, so temporary will only leave you tired and empty handed. Today I received a package in the mail with a handwritten note. Not terribly unusual except this was for a package that I ordered on Amazon. So to the stranger who wrote "God bless you and yours" on my receipt....thank you. Your kindness brightened my day. Worry is really quite pointless. At some point you have to let go and realize that God has it under control. Unless you have a good surprise for someone, try to give them news at least a week in advance. That might need to become an unofficial Black Knight rule to live by. Take joy in the simple parts of life - like getting snow in your jeans. It makes life so much less of a battle when you laugh and appreciate the reminders that you're alive, no matter how cold the reminders might be. If you don't have the courage to talk to someone face to face, you have no right to ask for any of their time via other means. Ever wonder what someone would think of you or learn about you from just listening to your music collection? I've pondered long and hard about love. And yet I still find myself pondering. Always learning but never closer to fully understanding all there is to know about love. It's a beautiful mystery.
One aspect of love has been more....pressing in my thoughts as of late. There's been a handful of movies that I've seen recently (no names so that I don't give away spoilers) that have dealt with this aspect of love. It is in giving love, not receiving it, that we are truly changed. If receiving love was enough, then every man, woman, and child would be changed. "For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son..." The world, everyone. Every person bears God's image, every person is loved, cherished by God. Yet people are still stubborn, unchanging, selfish, proud, arrogant, sinful. The world's problems only seem to be getting worse, not better. We are speeding on the proverbial highway to hell. But giving love, that's what changes us. The change that takes place when a father holds his daughter, when a mother feels her son kick for the first time....is incredible. The sacrifices made for love, jobs passed over, toys left un-purchased for the good of your spouse. If you want to see something special, watch an engaged couple interact. Watch what happens when they love the other first, when they focus on someone else's needs above their own. It's beautiful. Another thought that I was reminded of tonight is that I tend to over-analyze, over explain the simple joys of life. So I dare you: stop reading this, go out and love someone. See what happens. "People rarely say what they mean. That's the interesting part, what's going on underneath the surface."
Maybe that's why I write poetry (albeit rather slowly as of late). It's because words alone can't fully express what I mean. Sure I can say that the snowflakes started to gently fall. But just that doesn't convey the beauty, the wonder, the awe of that moment when I got to walk midst frozen crystals and they fluttered down in the winter air as the sky above glowed in the city lights - a mixture of cloud silver and street lamp gold. Even then, even with all the words I just used to describe that moment....you would still have had to be there. It was beautiful. A pristine moment forever remembered in my head. If words aren't enough for a moment on an otherwise normal day, how much less are they for those days that take your breath away? How much less are they when it comes to telling your love just how precious and wonderful they are? That's why we need art. Art, in some way far beyond what I can understand, art communicates without words. Art communicates deeper than happy or sad. Art is ecstasy and anguish. And what better art than people. God saved the best for last - no other part of creation is made in His image. Humans are art, God's art. We're not our own. We may like to think that but we're not. We're God's. So is everyone we meet. It'll change the way you deal with people. Look at every stranger walking by you on the street, every unknown face in the impossibly long elevator ride as God's art. It won't be what's on the surface that matters most anymore. I'll wager you'll want to know what's underneath, you'll find yourself thinking of them in terms of heart, not face. And that is a place that's more than just beautiful, more than just incredible. But you'll have to be there to know wha it's fully like. It's the little moments in life that carry us through each day. Sure, I love mountain top highs as much as the next person. I dread those seasons of trudging through the valley too. But when it comes down to it, valleys and peaks are more of the exception than the rule for life.
In between the goods and bads are moments of everyday, ordinary, mundane nature. They're moments filled with reading forms, checking email, doing dishes, folding laundry, reading a book. They're moments when your socks get wet from stepping on melted snow indoors, moments when you realize that you forgot to water your plant and it's wilted in protest. What do you make of those moments? What do you do when the banal eclipses the joys? When the boring overshadows the sorrows? Do you dread those moments? Do you dread walking out in the snow for fear that your feet might get cold? It's easy to look at the everyday as the enemy...after all, it's not the mountain top high. But what if we took joy in the ordinary? We purposefully got both socks wet when we step in melted snow? We dance in the snow until our feet our cold? We wait to water our plant until it's wilted then watch it come back to life over a couple of hours? What if we made folding laundry into a karyoke/dance contest? I've heard it said that we can't change others, just our reactions. I think that applies to life too. We're not in control of life (thank God for that!), but we do get to decide how we respond. So when those little moments come that threaten to dull your appreciation, take the time to soak in the moment and enjoy it for what it is. |
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