The Lion Roars Tonight

Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for someone to devour.

1 Peter 5:8

I like to learn about animals, and the big cats have always held a fascination for me.  Take lions, for example, the male lion is referred to as "The King of the Jungle" but it is the female who does the hunting, cares for the young, and seems to have the final say in most matters.  The male lion will announce his presence with a tremendous roar but if the lioness is not in a good mood she will get in his face and roar back.  

But lions are usually pack hunters.  They will locate a herd of some tasty beast, and once everyone is in position, they will roar which startles the herd.  The startled herd will start running to escape which will reveal to the lions which are morsels are too young and slow, too old and slow, or too sick and slow.  You see, when the herd runs they are concerned only with their own safety.  There are exceptions, of course.  I saw an episode on Animal Planet where lions decided their meal was to be baby elephant, not counting on the rest of the herd standing their ground.  Let's just say, the lions didn't dine on elephant that night but had to go nurse some rather nasty bruises.

What's my point in all this babbling?  We, as humans, are prone to knee jerk responses.  We will not hesitate to throw someone under the bus to save our own hides (reputation, job, fill-in-the-blank).  We are quick to REact instead of being PROactive in planning.  True we cannot plan for every eventuality, but we can have a plan of action framework.

• Want to save your marriage? Remove the ticks and decide to love each other!
• Want to save your job? Do your best and remember that God is your true boss.
• Want a better work environment? Treat people like you want to be treated by them.
• Want a better society? Hold each person accountable for their actions and treat everyone like you want to be treated by them.
• Want respect? Be respectful AND respectable!
• Want a good reputation? Work hard, keep your word, make only the promises you will keep.

Combine all this with keeping the conversation with God ongoing and we have a PROactive plan.

In doing such things, when our enemy roars his presence, and he will, we will be like the elephants and God will cause the enemy to go home empty handed to deal with his wounds!

What If I Don't Like You?

And you must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, and all your strength.’ The second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ No other commandment is greater than these.”

~Mark 12:30-31

Last week we talked a little about how true love is a conscious decision and we are choose to love often in spite of each other.  Well, guess what?  Jesus teaches us what love looks like!

Jesus and I have something in common...neither of us are overly fond of "church folk."  You know the ones.  They go to lots of conferences, memorize Scripture by the book, pray in Ye Olde English because they don't think God understands the voice of our hearts, and they are very quick to tell you how you are doing life wrong (without ever looking in the mirror).  "Church Folks" almost drove me away from the church completely, until God showed me something from today's passage: When I love God with everything that I am, I understand how much He loves me, so how can I not love other people?

Now let me be VERY clear...loving others does NOT mean accepting or agreeing with their choices.  For example, I disagree with the militant vegans who will have nothing to do with anything that is not a plant, but I still love them because they are also God's children.  People disagree with the fact that I am rather unorthodox in the sharing of my faith, but they still love me anyway (I am led to believe). After all, Tootsie Rolls and other candies open doors to conversations that a Bible upside the head won't (go figure).  I am not a fan of the "christians"  who insist on yelling and screaming that I am going to Hell if I don't agree with them, but they are God's children too and deserve my love (and prayers and compassion and help if needed).

You see, Jesus didn't hide behind a pulpit, He went where the people were who needed Him.  He didn't condemn people, He loved them (even the "church folk" if you remember Nicodemus).  Jesus CHOSE to love others as much as, and even more than, Himself.  He shared wine and meals with people who the church didn't want.  He went to weddings and celebrations where the "pious" would not be caught dead attending.  He touched lepers, let a prostitute was His feet with her own tears (that's a LOT of tears).  He made friends with the rejected.  He told an adulteress that He did not condemn her as a person, but He did tell her to stop with the adultery. He that loved people!

Yet we look at someone and see what we DON'T like about them.  WE choose to be divisive! WE throw up fences!  WE stab people in the back instead of building them up! WE discourage others instead of encouraging!  WE CHOOSE TO BE JUST LIKE 'CHURCH FOLK'!  And we can CHOOSE to think differently.

Let me put it another way....I have an eclectic taste in music but I am not a fan of Country Music (sorry to all the country music fans).  BUT that doesn't mean I will not spend time with, ride with, or enjoy the company of those who like country music.  And I hope they will still love me when I listen to my classical or rock or Harry Belafonte or any of the other non-country genres on my MP3 player.

We must learn to love and care for other people as much as we care for ourselves!  One way to do that is to pray for the people we don't like!  

Buddhist student: "Master, I am discouraged."

Buddhist Master: "Then Encourage!"

You see?  Pray FOR those we don't like and we will begin to see them as God's Children too because God will remind us that people who don't like us are praying for us as well.  Make a difference and make a friend, love others as yourself by loving God above all!

We Really ARE One....When We Want To Be!

Work at living in peace with everyone, and work at living a holy life, for those who are not holy will not see the Lord. Look after each other so that none of you fails to receive the grace of God. Watch out that no poisonous root of bitterness grows up to trouble you, corrupting many. 

~Hebrews 12:14-15

During the flooding which overwhelmed the residents of Columbia this past week, people worked together to help each other.  Entire communities reached out to those who suffered.  First Responders worked themselves to the point of exhaustion and still pushed on, because we became a single community of people.

Never once did I hear anything about race, beliefs, gender, preferences or any of the other irrelevant barriers WE have put in place.  For once, we realized that we all are part of the community of humanity.  People pitched in with manual labor; jumping right in to help with the clean up.  People opened their bank accounts and pantries to help provide for those who were without.  People gave and gave and gave!  

True, there were some who sought the spotlight, there were also some who became greedy, and even some who took this disaster as their opportunity to take what wasn't theirs.  But overall, people banded together; prayed for and with each other, accepted each other, cared about each other.

If God intended for us to be all the same, He would have stopped with Adam or Eve.  But God created us to join together as community, showing love to others regardless of our differences.

My question and challenge to ALL of us is this: When things return to normal, will we continue to see each other as a community or will the irrelevant divisive issues return?