|
To Be or Not to Be
To be or not to be: hero on the front line or stepping back to the end of the line of fear.
if you believe in God, in His creation of us for a reason - maybe we don’t know - and if you have tried to be a positive not a negative, have taken risks like drawing the first card, taking the first step out, or betting your life on your promise while everyone stays home and folds up into a bag, nothing good will happen. True, the early birds goes out early to catch the worm, but he takes it back to feed his babies. Humans need to be together just like wild horses run in herds or elephants move in groups, or lions hunt with a designated process in the wild where a family of six or eight each has a role or position to attack a gazelle, and wait for the papa lion to wander in and have the first bite.
It’s amazing to see how in this pandemic curse, neighbors and friends became creative and found ways to communicate love and sing in windows and decorate sidewalks, even with a mask that hides the smile, - you can still hear, though - a laugh, a joke, a thank you, a bless you, a we love you. Balloons have become a verbal declaration of some sort. Giant apartments in giant cities like New York on any eve as residents step out on their decks, might hear a quartet or a rock and roll coral in concert all can share for free, just to give a cheer to joy.
To risk being what our heart says we should be or to choose to shove it under the “I’m too busy”, “I’m afraid,” “ I’ve got a headache corning,” are we so important to ourselves that we fail to risk our lives to help others? Not just being martyrs, but allowing ourselves to love so much that it overwhelms our sanity, our desires, our dreams - and we throw those aside and take a chance - like the doctors and nurses who have been called up to take care of, heal, give hope to all those with this frightening virus that has overtaken, not just our cities and towns, but the whole world - and is out of control? Is it worth it to give up my life for the sick, starving, the dangerous, the contagious? It is. As simple as that. My heart goes out to those who do not think twice. Who “just do it” because it’s there and it’s the only human things to do. We belong to each other. We need to walk together and save each other and I betcha we see each other again in paradise.
I imagine there were days when Jesus was exhausted, frustrated, angry and always carrying in His mind that His own destiny was already set out for Him, and He had to be that, with no option to not be that. His task was to save mankind. Not only the Jews, but the Gentiles (everyone not Jewish), and the Roman soldiers and the crooked leaders and the prostitutes, and eunuchs and every kind of person wrong or right. He had a task to do for us, you and me, even though we don’t show up until the 20th century. Imagine that burden. Did he really know that his best buddies were going to back out on him? Was that part of the deal? Did His Father God warn him about the bumps in the road, the disappointments He would experience, the stubbornest of the supposed leaders, the pain He would endure just to make sure we understood we would be saved by the cross on which He was nailed?
Do we ever think that our choices, our volunteering and signing up for the unknown, our jobs, our relationships, our governments, our adventures , our sins would be so dangerous, so painful, so brutal to others, as we forget to abide by the rules as we stomp around trying to be what we want to be, no matter how it affects thy neighbor? Is it about comforting self or thinking about others - masks, protesters (everyone enjoys protests, fighting for our rights as human beings) so what are the limits?
 What was the point of the original constitution written in 1787 (after the Declaration of Independence in 1776) when things were simple, and life was a lot more primitive than today, when even dress was unlike anything we could move around in with our athleticism? Everything was logical in the original at that time. And all men were created equal by God the Father. That still holds.
Now, however, there is so much crime, homicide, crooks, abusers, horrible people who want to destroy life and satisfy their own sexual drives and needs, and get backs, and some confused leader says I did more for Christians than Jesus , than did the Son of God the Creator, and most people who don’t care about their neighbor if they don’t have the same color skin or same accent of language. The Declaration of Independence is almost irrelevant. The worst of the worst grabs hold of one edge of that paper and pulls it away to use for his or her power and might to be who they want to be, even someone inhuman.
Meanwhile the planet is taking a deep breath - skies clear, roads aren’t jam packed - car exhausts are less, Flowers still bloom and leaves still fall after turning exquisite colors of autumn. Noise is down, somewhat, except those sirens that comfort us our police force is on the job trying to stop crime, to combat the horrific fact that crime rates are soaring in our city of Memphis. Meanwhile coronavirus statistics fail to slow down, and remain tied with the presence of death. At first, supermarkets might have been empty but they have adapted to the new needs of one and all - not that it is any different from the need prior to the arrival of coronavirus — one or another it means they are making money because people are shopping like crazy - and they need to adjust their system to keep things re-stocked - which means those making the products are having to produce more - and I think that means more money, more profits. At one moment, toilet paper was almost as valuable as a diamond ring or a Michael Jordan jersey. Really! I tried to buy a small freezer in April and only found one purchasable end of September. Thats crazy. People who can afford it, are buying vacation homes, or redoing their decks and homes for a more pleasant and livable environment, since lifestyles have had to change.
We know more about many things, but we still really don’t know ourselves, our possibilities, our curiosity that lacks answer. Answers aren’t always answers anyway - but another challenge, another bracket made up of a pair that just came together and produced an heir - a name- if you work on family ancestry trees, as I do. We don’t always accept truth but that’s from the outside, not from our inside. Who knows our inside - its pain, joy, thought, response, disappointment when that gut is twisted by fear and sorrow. To live and love doing what He told us to do as servants of God, means never knowing what is around the next corner - but take it, turn it, walk it because it will be a new experience, a miracle, a disappointment, a hope, or maybe a chance to save someone’s life.
Remember, we are the fingers of His hand that were pierced on the cross. We are His hope, His truth. May we have mercy, grace and share that hope.
Were you there when they crucified my Lord?
~ Rev
---------------------------------
audrey@audreytaylorgonzalez.com
www.audreytaylorgonzalez.com
|
