A Few of My Favorite Things

  • God and all that goes with Him
  • Time Spent With Family
  • Bedtime Prayers
  • Family/Group Hugs
  • The Beach
  • Good Friends
  • Good Music
  • Laughter

Wednesday, March 7, 2018

A Time to Think for Ourselves

I think we need to stop and with open minds look back across American history. The federal government has done nothing but grow. We are a country of people who no longer look to each other and ask the question" What can we do for each other?", but we are a country that looks to government and asks "What can you do for us?". We have gone from being a collective people to special interest groups. We no longer seem to value the lives of the very young, those with disabilities, and the old. History reveals over and over again that this is when things like the holocaust occur. We as a nation seem to have lost our ability to feel empathy for others. Violence has never been shown to affect real change. Real change is always made through kindness, honor, and gentleness. It's when we all look deeply into our own souls, see the world about us with open eyes and an open heart, and we think for ourselves instead of allowing the government and news agencies to think for us. Just over two thousand years ago Christ entered a world where Kings sent out soldiers to murder baby boys, women were looked at as property. The world did not love him, any more than the world loves those who speak for the most vulnerable of our society today. He was murdered by those who did not agree with him, yet He asked for forgiveness to be granted to them. Abraham Lincoln worked to keep a broken system together until violence forced a different approach. His life was cut short out of hatred. We see this over and over again in our history. We separate ourselves into groups and the use of vile and vulgar language is used as we spew hatred everywhere. No longer can we share our views and feelings without vulgarity and violence. The news agencies no longer report what is happening in the world, but they share their opinion and view of the scene. We are made to believe that all the work done by those over the years to end ugliness has been undone. In fact, it seems that so often those who are elected to protect us are those who continue to stir the pot. Martin Luther King Jr. said that the content of a man's character should be judged by his actions and not by the color of his skin. His message echoed that of Christ in the lesson who is my neighbor. He preached non-violence while marching for change. Hatred killed three little girls in a Birmingham church. Hatred filled the hearts of so many that black young people could not attend school with white young people, we could not drink from the same water fountains, use the same restrooms, or eat together at the lunch counter. It was not violence meeting violence that brought change, but sacrifice and nonviolence. Those who marched on Washington did so peacefully and effectively. Violence breeds fear and fear breeds hatred. It was hatred that killed Dr. King, hatred that killed President Kennedy and his brother. CHANGE IS SCARY, but when we allow that fear to end in violence no real improvement is seen. Fear causes us to dig our heels into the ground, shut our eyes to the feelings of the other side, and to fix the problem with violence. But problems have historically only grown worse when met with violence. When we spend our time yelling and screaming at one another instead of listening to each other and trying to find real solutions, we end up with riots in the streets, words that wound deeply are said, and the problems continue to grow.
It is time for us to stop and listen to each other, not so we can have the better argument but so we can affect real change. It is time for us to think for ourselves to study the issues without looking for a bias and to share our ideas and feelings without vulgarity and ugliness. This woman was raised in L.A.(lower Alabama) by a mother who taught her the attitude that Christ would use.It wasn't until after I started college that my naive belief that prejudice was no longer an issue in our world changed. I learned quickly it was alive and well and that it was not just one-sided. It is time that we stop whining and get busy. I may not be able to change attitudes on a national level. I may not like who is running our government, but I can change me. I can look at my little corner of the world and love inspite of the ugliness. I can share my feelings and ideas without vulgarity. I can pray to the Creator for patience and love and empathy. I can help those I come in contact with, and I can be a voice for those who have no voice. It was this ideal that our Constitution supports. The idea that we are all created equal and we all have the right to try our very best to live out our hopes and dreams in this nation.
May our God grant us time to grow and listen and share. May we no longer look to the government to fix the social problems, but may we look to each other with empathy and courage to act in a way that will help heal the wounds that have been torn open through hatred and media propaganda. May God help each of us to see those around us as He sees us, and may we love each other the way He loves us.

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