Skip to main content

My Revolution

             Only be careful, and watch yourselves closely so that you do not forget the things your eyes have seen or let them fade from your heart as long as you live. Teach them to your children and to their children after them. (Deuteronomy 4:9) 

“Honor your father and your mother, so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you. (Exodus 20:12) 

Today’s exercise deals with family, and while it’s not overtly based on the assumption of parents and children, or grandparents and grandchildren, that’s how it feels to me. It asks what I can do in the context of my family to spread the practice of living in awareness of His presence and listening to His voice. The problem is that my family is – for the most part – a thousand miles away. We aren’t major parts of each other’s support system. I can’t turn off the stove and go help them, nor can they drop what they’re doing and come to help me. And while my church family is closer, they all have lives and families of their own. It is what it is.

Quite a few years ago, I started a Facebook group called “Nobodies.” It’s based on the storylet about there being Somebody, Everybody, Anybody, and Nobody, and in the end, Nobody did what needed to be done. The idea was to celebrate Good Samaritans, Nobodies who stepped up. Granted, there haven’t been many additions of late. I gave a talk at the library and wrote letters to the editor about the notion of making the world a better place by starting with making yourself a better person: learning to eat right, exercise, get enough water and sleep, getting one’s relationships right, maintaining proper boundaries, etc., then moving out into taking care of your home and property, eventually branching out into your neighborhood, and encouraging others to do the same.

This is the revolution that I want to continue. I want people to pick up litter, weed their elderly neighbors’ garden, learn to can, or otherwise do things that will improve their lives, their homes, their neighborhoods, and their world.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Think About These Things

                 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. (Philippians 4:8) This passage is a major challenge for me. Like everyone else, I struggle to keep my thoughts from wandering off into the weeds, then wondering what possible benefits those weeds might have… Sigh. But as a writer, I have to delve at least a little into the ignoble, wrong, impure, unlovely, and debased. After all, there’s no story if everything’s just as it should be and everyone’s happy. As Christians, there are times when we need to deal with all the negatives, but that makes it even more important that we practice turning our minds by force of attention to what is noble, right, pure, lovely, admirable, excellent, and praiseworthy. It’s just too easy to get stuck in a swamp. With my...
1 comment
Read more

Higher Thoughts

  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the  Lord . “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)           The person with the Spirit makes judgments about all things, but such a person is not subject to merely human judgments,   for, “Who has known the mind of the Lord      so as to instruct him?” But we have the mind of Christ. (I Corinthians 2:15-16) If you read about the ancient gods of the various peoples, you’ll find that they think just like people. In fact, they think just like the sort of people we really wouldn’t want to be around. They think like the most corrupt Hollywood producer or, like hormone overloaded teens with no upbringing.   It’s embarrassing to read. I have a friend who argues that because God is not just like us, He is so vastly dif...
2 comments
Read more

Pure...

            The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. (I Timothy 1:5)   I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm—neither hot nor cold—I am about to spit you out of my mouth. (Revelation 3:15-16) I’m probably cheating - or mishandling the Bible, but earlier I was thinking about love being pure and purifying. And hatred being pure and purifying. And anger…joy…patience… fear… jealousy… courage…lust… and other strongly felt feelings, attitudes, and beliefs. Today’s verse brings purity and love together, so it’s the verse of the day, but it’s not really the focus. That means my motive for sharing it with you probably isn’t pure. As you read through my list, you   probably thought, “Yeah” about some, and “What’s she on?” about others. But consider how much hatred, a...
Post a Comment
Read more