When we are born, we automatically assume a variety of titles (son, daughter, niece, nephew, brother, sister, friend). Literally, the list is endless. Day by day and year by year, that list grows and for most of us, we carry so many “titles” that we often tend to forget about all of them and the special significance and responsibility that goes along with each and every one of them. We all come with a birthright. How we function with that depends upon what path we choose as we grow up. Ultimately, at birth, there is one birthright that we all share, and that is “Child of God”.
Child of God comes with an enormous amount of responsibility, but even more so, with an abundant amount of love, patience, faith, peace, tenderness, comfort, grace and forgiveness. Again, that list is endless as well. These are the things that through our commitment to our Father, we in turn commit to share with others, unconditionally, for our entire earthbound life. We are bound to Him through not only our belief, but our behavior(s) and our ability to let each of those traits shine through us to everyone around us. BE HIM! Be Him in every way. Be the Light, the Love, the Passion, the Forgiveness, Be the Random Act of Kindness! Be Understanding. Be Patient. Be Tolerant. Be Him!
So many times, (more often than we care to accept), any one of those traits can be and will be tested. If we ask God for patience, more than likely, our ability to develop a level of patience is by having ours tested. You ask for some patience in dealing with a wild out of control child and your patience is tested and developed when the child pours a whole container of chocolate syrup on the floor and then plays in it. Initially, you want to wring their darling little neck. But once, the mess is cleaned up and you stand face to face with your chocolate covered, sticky youngster, they look up at you with big tear filled eyes and in a sweet, innocent little voice, simply say, “I’m sorry”.
Now, unless it has happened a hundred times before and you know that they really aren’t all that sorry, you smile, you forgive them, hug them in their chocolaty glory and try to explain why mommy went off the deep end and screamed and cried (and maybe even let loose with a few colorful words) when she saw the mess. And then you say "and please, oh, please don’t do it again". Besides which, that empty can of chocolate syrup might have started out being too heavy for their tiny little hands and started off as an innocent spill and not a malicious attempt to free every last molecule of yummy chocolcaty-ness in that very enticing little brown can. Who knows, maybe the little one was even doing something nice for you. After all, you like chocolate milk, don’t you? Be thankful. It could have been followed by a whole gallon of milk as well. You might even find a giggle in it and get a sweet chocolate kiss that you will remember for a lifetime, but especially when your little one is grown and out on his or her own.
Patience comes with trial! You are not born being patient or tolerant, you develop it and hone the skill for your entire life. Remember that the next time you insist on pushing someone to their limit – ON ANYTHING! Don’t get upset if they freak out and handle the situation badly. Their skill level is still under construction, just like yours.
I wrote an email to a friend the other day and I complained, moaned, and fussed about all of the seemingly negative things that had singled out my family and were marching steadfastly towards my life. I ended the email with “does it ever end”. Yes, it does, and all too soon, but what we take with us every moment of every day is either our waning or growing faith. We have very little if any control over a lot of the things that happen to us or to our loved ones and even our pets . Whether we have an older family member dealing with Alzheimer’s, cancer, heart disease or just old age, there is not a one of us that can honestly stand up and say that our faith has never been tested. Just as often as we ask “why” and our faith is tested due to the serious or terminal illness of a friend or family member, it is and can be strengthened just as often by our ability to talk to our “Dad” to help us see through the grief and pain and sorrow and know that He is still there. That this “situation” whatever it may be is a part of life and the situations will vary for each of us. So, instead of turning our back on Him and pushing Him away, we can draw closer to Him and know that He is so big that He holds the universe in the palm of His hand, yet He is small enough to hold us on His lap and wrap His loving arms around us and just hug us and reassure us and love us and let us know that it will be alright.
There is not anything so bad or so big that we cannot endure when we have His help. He grieves when we grieve. He cries with us as we begin to mourn the loss of someone special and dear. But, He gives us the ability to smile again as we remember wonderful things about that person. Grief is a part of life, as are happiness and joy, and sometimes we forget that they go hand in hand. It is okay to be sad. It is okay to grieve, but it is just as important to remember the “wonderful”. Those moments are the ones that begin to help you deal with the grieving process. You have to go through it. We all do and we all handle it a little differently. You can’t tell someone “how” to feel or not feel. Whether the person is a parent, a sibling, a friend, we all look at that person that we are losing, with loving eyes and wonderful memories. We all want that one person to be whole again, to not feel pain. We want that person back with us they way that were in our memories. We all look at that person and love that person for our own special reasons, and no one, not anywhere, at any time, can take those memories away from us. Sometimes, we have to learn to let go because this process, this journey that we call “life”, has a path to follow. It has a beginning and an end. For some of us, it won’t be pleasant, nor swift, but the path is part of the journey and you can’t get there any other way.
There is not anything so bad or so big that we cannot endure when we have His help. He grieves when we grieve. He cries with us as we begin to mourn the loss of someone special and dear. But, He gives us the ability to smile again as we remember wonderful things about that person. Grief is a part of life, as are happiness and joy, and sometimes we forget that they go hand in hand. It is okay to be sad. It is okay to grieve, but it is just as important to remember the “wonderful”. Those moments are the ones that begin to help you deal with the grieving process. You have to go through it. We all do and we all handle it a little differently. You can’t tell someone “how” to feel or not feel. Whether the person is a parent, a sibling, a friend, we all look at that person that we are losing, with loving eyes and wonderful memories. We all want that one person to be whole again, to not feel pain. We want that person back with us they way that were in our memories. We all look at that person and love that person for our own special reasons, and no one, not anywhere, at any time, can take those memories away from us. Sometimes, we have to learn to let go because this process, this journey that we call “life”, has a path to follow. It has a beginning and an end. For some of us, it won’t be pleasant, nor swift, but the path is part of the journey and you can’t get there any other way.
