Being Open

We see God's goodness everywhere. In our homes, our jobs, and our interactions with others. Nothing is left to chance. God has the plan for our lives. We fall out of favor with Him when we digress, but yet he pulls us back. Nothing is by chance.

We have a purpose. We have a purpose to live life in the best way possible, giving to God all that we have, living each day for him. When we can move our actions and reactions to this higher level, life becomes easy. Decisions, conflicts, and struggles are minimized because our decisions and reactions are made for the glory of God.

This does not mean an extreme and rigid belief system that does not welcome others. The Bible is the inspired word of God. The Ten Commandments are our guiding principles. We cannot bring judgement on groups or people that humans interpret as not fitting in the meaning. God is a good God. He expects us to love others, to turn the other cheek, to live in peace and harmony. Not to discriminate, judge, and hate. Forgiveness is the fundamental principle of God's love for us. He gave His son to atone for our sins so we can live guilt free. That is not carte blanche to continue sinning and hurting others with no accountability. It is the ability to know that in the darkest moments when we have our biggest failures, when life is closing in we can release the guilt and be.

I know that I awake every day feeling free in the knowledge that God has my back. That He is there for me and that I can always turn there for support. My job is to reach out to others, be kind, be a message of goodness and accountability. Education, Keeping growth in the forefront.

I have friends who follow other faiths. It is not my place to determine if their image of God is right or wrong compared to mine. That to me is me taking on God's role. Not my place. I never picked groups in high school. I found comfort in being friends with everyone. Some were more like me than others, but I tried to pick out the best in all. Same with religion.

There is God and there is the Devil, or evil, or the dark side. Yet we fear no evil for God is with us, even to the end of the earth. So there. I am not too into fighting a spiritual battle with the devil. He is strong and I hate the evil I see when people and animals are abused and treated cruelly. Or when special interest factions go awry. But I think our "spiritual warfare" comes from goodness. Living a good life, Showing kindness, joy, acceptance, patience. Reaching out to those who need support. Living in tandem with God's word and His blessings.  The other side, the conflicts, the wars, the battles, the evil, come from strife. It began with Cain and Abel and their first conflict. It keeps coming. We will never overcome the conflicts for the conflicts build in us resilience, faith, patience. If all was well, we would cease to exist. It is overcoming and continuing to remain whole and good that makes us stronger.

There is grace in faith. There is comfort in faith. There is respect in knowing that God is with us even when man is against. It is the miracle of life. Gratitude. So just for review, below are the Ten Commandments.

1. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2. You shall not make idols.
3. You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.
4. Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy.
5. Honor your father and your mother.
6. You shall not murder.
7. You shall not commit adultery.
8. You shall not steal.
9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
10. You shall not covet.

When we decide to react with discrimination to race, people unlike us, or change, it is time to re read these.  We all have a banner we carry.  Clean up our own backyards first and find a place for our own sins and inequities. Then we can start to look outside. But not to judge. Instead to look for opportunity to make life more meaningful for others.  In the meantime,  we turn the other cheek, we live in harmony, and we know that sitting back and letting God  deal with the problems are best solutions. In the meantime, it is up to personal accountability. How good are we at checking our own behaviors? 

The Seven Deadly Sins? Where are we in accord with these? 

When did we last volunteer time or money for a cause?

Who did we reach out to today?

What are we grateful for and did we express it?

I laugh a bit at people who carry their banners. Not because I don't respect them, but because I see them trying so hard to prove forth their message, be it equality, the rights of social groups, or against discrimination.  I have one person I know who carries all kinds of banners for equality. She often attempts to shock me with her liberalism. Although I act innocent, I see her attempts. What she does not know is that she is talking to the choir. I don't find a need to expose my beliefs or my past experiences  for the sake of exposure. When they appear, they appear. That to me is confidence. It is being comfortable in one's own skin. 

I fight for kids. I fight for kids to be treated with respect. I fight for kids to have equal opportunity. I fight for kids to have second and third chances. I fight for kids to be loved. This is where I give my greatest push back. We cannot control poverty or human weakness, but we can chip away at the system every day but making sure our kids are taken care of. That is my mission. I don't care about the race or the sexual preference of the kids or who their parents are or were. I care that they are kids and that they deserve to have the best we can give them as they grow up. Where it goes from there is their responsibility. I want kids to experience every good thing they can. That is my agenda. 

Acceptance comes not from protests and loudness, but from love shown. MLKing did it this way. Being combative does not solve problems. Working in tandem and in love does. Evil begets evil. Trust builds in time. It takes common ground. Modeling. Respect. When I feel the need to compete and fight back, I know I am in too deep. This is the time when I need to sit back and say some prayers. Ask for God to take it and show me a better way.