I have always been a part of a church-going family.
And part of what comes along with going to church for so many years is oftentimes the same messages get burned |keep reading for my cheesy, intended pun| into your brain after hearing them over and over and over again. They are usually good messages, life-giving messages, but... once something gets permanently ingrained in your brain it can lose its power. You become numb to it.
I think of it like the idea of stop, drop, and roll - you know, that message we have all been taught to act upon if you are ever on fire?
You can ask any 5-year-old in America what to do if they found themselves engulfed in flames and they would spit those three words back at you. But holy crap... imagine if you were ever actually on fire?!?! I think it is safe to say those three simple words would immediately become way less simple - probably replaced by a lot of running and screaming and frantically asking yourself "what was I supposed to do in this situation again?!?"
|At this point though, there may be an app for putting out a fire that I am completely unaware of; thus making stop, drop & roll, and this entire blog post's metaphor, completely obsolete.|
I mean, I hope that is never any of our realities. But you get my point.
Often the easiest things to utter, almost like we are a song on repeat, can be the hardest things to actually put into action when the time comes.
One of those canned church-lines that I have said, or read, or heard hundreds of times is 'love your neighbor as yourself'' |Matthew 22:39|.
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It seems easy. It seems simple. Especially when that little cutie nugget above is telling you to do it. But there are days when it seems like that idea has little to no power in my life because I have become numb. I make it more complex than it needs to be. I get weighed down with a million reasons not to love:
But...but do you know what they have done to me? If you only knew the decisions she has made you wouldn't be asking me to do this. You wouldn't be able to love this person if... and if... and if...
It becomes a string of excuses and reasons not to. Anyone else been there?
You have been forced with the seemingly impossible decision to show love to someone that has wronged you, or hurt someone else you love, or has made an awful decision. So instead, the simple command of "love everyone" is replaced with a whole lot of running, and screaming and frantically asking yourself "what was I supposed to do in this situation again?!?!?". When in reality it is as a simple as stop drop and roll.
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Sometimes, on this blog, I write about things I feel I have a lot of knowledge on |like The Bachelor... oh, I am so wise|. Other times though, like today, I write about things to make them real for me. When I write something down it becomes concrete in my life. The words give my idea strength and actually hold me accountable to doing what I say I am going to do. When my thoughts turn to words I have to act upon them; I can't just continue to shove them into the deep abyss of my mind.
I think the key words in the sentence above are "I have to act upon them". Love is not truly love without action.
Ask any wife who just needs some gosh darn help getting dinner on the table, and the kids in the bath, and the brownies made for the bake sale tomorrow, and the card sent out for grandma's birthday, and, and, and, and.... AH! The poor lady just needs someone in her life to stand beside her and take action.
Or ask any husband who forgot an anniversary. The only thing that can fix that is action. And not the kind of action you are thinking (dirty!).... but action covered in lots and lots of flowers and shiny, sparkly things.
The only true way to show love to those around you is by acting. These actions don't have to be big, or grand |unless you are the husband mentioned above ;)| but they do have to be actions that mirror the heart of Jesus. Jesus never loved people from afar. He never just talked about loving people. He never loved people from the safety of his own friendship circle. He rolled up his sleeves and engaged with people who needed it most.
So, maybe today the two things you need to do is show up and shut up.
There has been a person on your mind as you have read this - mine too.
Show up at their door, at a dinner table, or on their phone. And then when you do show up, shut up....get off your high horse. Don't start belittling, shoving a finger in their chest, or giving them self-help advice 101. Let them do the talking.
Make it simple. Make it doable. And never, ever start running and screaming - it just makes it worse... just ask the fire! :)
So who needs you to be present today? Often times showing up is enough to say I love you. I haven't given up on you. And neither has God.
So, in reality, today's post was more about holding my own feet to the fire |I'm sorry... I don't know what my deal is with fire metaphors today... hehe| and to motivate me to make changes in my own life. And if it helped you do the same I am glad!
Happy Sunday!
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Labels: Faith, Friendship, Inspiration, Love
