A Grand New Year of Love

HAPPY NEW YEAR ALL!!!

After a loaded morning at work, a strange afternoon, and "Mamma Mia!"... I didn't attend the prayer at Church thing... but God showed me a lot, nonetheless... I didn't go to the mountains today to reflect and think... but God let me breathe a lot today... and so, with all this breathing... I was pondering... and thinking... and then I wrote this.

Q: How would you end the cycles of hate? 

I watched the movie “The Kingdom” and I tip my hat to it. Not only did I cringe and duck my head a few times, but I also squirmed in my seat knowing that it was possible for such things to occur. I’m not that big of a weeper, birthday cards won’t bring tears to my eyes, Christmas cards are a different story, but the point is, it takes some effort to make me cry because I’m touched, and “The Kingdom” did it for me.

The story starts and ends with a terrorist attack. In the beginning, Arab terrorists kill innocent men, women, and children. In the end, American F.B.I. agents kill an old man and a young boy. Naturally, in the eyes of two different perspectives, the story is different, but the emotions are real. The never-ending war between America and the Middle East is beginning and unfolding on wide and full screen.

With such a set up, it is difficult to believe that this cycle will stop. Think about it, although in the eyes of Americans, what the terrorists have done and are doing is wrong and hurting us, in the eyes of those in the Middle East, how are the Americans different? Yes, they all carry guns, bombs, and torpedoes that can shoot through cars and buildings, killing many at a time. And, naturally, there is hate being fostered and grown in the hearts of the youth who are told to burden the responsibility of revenge for their country… but that’s happening on both sides.

And so, I turned to the Bible for my answers and there it was. “Faith, hope, and love.”

We need to have FAITH that all is according to God’s will and not ours. We need to put our trust and lives in the hands of our Maker, and we must HOPE for a better and brighter tomorrow. It may not happen in the way we want it to, but it will in the way God wants it to. “Let God be true.” And loving your enemies is a common misunderstood commandment. I’ve heard the words of Jesus misinterpreted many, many times. When a friend is hurt, I’ve heard them quote, “Do unto others the way they do unto you” and I would sit there and scratch my head, confused at such an interpretation. The Bible teaches us to treat others the way you want to be treated, so does that mean if someone blows up my lands and steal my cattle, I will do the same to them?

No. In all ways, shine God’s light brightly in all your actions, words, and ways. Let the world see what is and should be, not what they hope to twist things into. So even should terrorists continue to bomb my homeland and steal my brothers and sisters’ lives… I will stay pray to the One I have FAITH in that He will bless their family and friends, and I will HOPE they will see what is right and turn from the false gods… and yes, I will LOVE them as I would my brothers and sisters, as friends and family.

Yes, there we go…

A: With LOVE.