Before Reaching for Hate...

 


   The world is changing, I mean come on it is 30 degrees with green grass on the first day of February, something is up. Some people call it global warming, some people think it is the heating up of the furnace for the last days, other people are simply glad it is warm and they can walk outside without fear of falling. Whatever camp you're in, I still think everybody has noticed the world, as in environment, is changing, but the hearts of men are also changing. We are being split apart by biases, hatreds, hurts and frustrations. Why is this so? Because we are all so busy judging other people's paths. Yesterday I was told by a concerned gentlemen that I needed to cut my fiancee loose because we've been engaged so long we MUST be breaking the law of Chastity. First, it isn't any of his business, second, it still isn't any of his business. I've been engaged so long because that is the path Heavenly Father has for me and there are many blessings along the way. I'm not the only victim of other's nosiness. It seems people are all over in other's business, whether in passing judgement, asserting their "better than thou art" attitude and trying to make themselves feel better about their own short comings by comparing themselves to others. I admit I can be guilty of that as well, me the person who is tired of everyone else's judgment...wow that is so sad, me knowing how much it damages my heart when people do that, I in my own mind do it too. Shame on me! People, this world needs more love, more understanding and more paying attention to our own salvation. We are not judges for anyone else, we only have stewardship over ourselves.
     I would like to share a story I read this week, I hope it conveys to you what you need to read:
          "Once there was a man who enjoyed taking evening walks around his neighborhood. He particularly looked forward to walking past his neighbor’s house. This neighbor kept his lawn perfectly manicured, flowers always in bloom, the trees healthy and shady. It was obvious that the neighbor made every effort to have a beautiful lawn.

But one day as the man was walking past his neighbor’s house, he noticed in the middle of this beautiful lawn a single, enormous, yellow dandelion weed.

It looked so out of place that it surprised him. Why didn’t his neighbor pull it out? Couldn’t he see it? Didn’t he know that the dandelion could cast seeds that could give root to dozens of additional weeds?

This solitary dandelion bothered him beyond description, and he wanted to do something about it. Should he just pluck it out? Or spray it with weed killer? Perhaps if he went under cover of night, he could remove it secretly.

These thoughts totally occupied his mind as he walked toward his own home. He entered his house without even glancing at his own front yard—which was blanketed with hundreds of yellow dandelions."

     It is so easy to become fixated on someone else's problem, to hide from our own insufficiencies. Have you ever noticed how quickly rumors and negative things spread...just like dandelion seeds blowing on the wind. In a day and age where cyber bullies run rampant and you can destroy a person with an off hand remark, remember we each have our own unique path and a unique journey. We can't expect our lives to look the same as anyone else's. 

     In a movie famous during my high school years they make a statement at the end of the movie "before we reach for hate, always, always we remember the Titans". Before we reach for fear of someone different, frustration at someone's choice, first reach for love and compassion, remember life is hard and we're doing the best with what we have to work with. We have the ability to change the world, do you choose to change it for better or for worse...?