Friday, July 18, 2014

Life's Morsels: BREAKING NEWS!

Life's Morsels: BREAKING NEWS!:      For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living being on this earth, would close their eyes and just ta...

BREAKING NEWS!

   
 For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living being on this earth, would close their eyes and just take a slow deep breath.  As that long drawn breath fills their lungs and restores their body with life sustaining oxygen, that they might also just be quiet and still and allow the whole world to do the same.

     For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living being on this earth, would look around and see the good in everything, not just for themselves but for everyone around them.

     For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living being on this earth, could be at peace with each other.

     For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living being on this earth, could look around them and know that love conquers hate.  Hate is the thorn that festers and spreads.  Forgive those that they have despised and offer a caring hand instead of a spiteful blow.

     BREAKING NEWS - BREAKING NEWS!  This just in!  Rockets soar through the air, bombs destroy homes and businesses, schools.  Entire towns and villages obliterated and landscapes changed forever.  Lives are lost and changed forever.  Tsunamis, tornadoes, hurricanes, landslides, earthquakes, wildfires.  Wars, muggings, murders, gang show downs, innocent people mowed down when a deranged and hateful shooter takes aim.  Lives lost, lives changed, tempers soar out of control and the cycle just keeps going and going and going.  Children orphaned, children lost, families destroyed, and all in the blink of an eye, a split second.

     Growing up, BREAKING NEWS had usually aged a little before it made its way to the television.  Technology, this constantly progressive world of ours, have brought us to the point, that not only are we advised of the catastrophes occurring around us, but we are able to watch them unfurl in living color, vivid gory detail and heart wrenching agony.  Sirens warn of impending catastrophic weather.  Schools are locked down.  Cars swept away in raging waters.  Today, it would seem that the BREAKING NEWS, is in reality, leaving us anxious, fearful, agitated and un-trusting of each other and the world around us.  But yet, life goes on for each of us.  Many of us go on by taking Scarlet's approach to things, "after all, tomorrow is another day".  Many of us go on in faith...

     I've heard young couples talk of being afraid to bring children into a world filled with such turmoil.  It always breaks my heart.  None of us know a day, a time, a place.  To some, it would seem that our world is imploding, literally destroying itself in a constant explosive, hate filled and greed driven quest for power and control.  But wait, just wait.  Look around you.  Look for the good.  Absorb the warmth and love and goodness that IS there!  Maybe it's simply holding a door for someone.  Or maybe, just maybe, that dirty old man in the raggedy clothes, really does just need someone to listen and share that one short moment.  Maybe that person that seems to be a little odd, is struggling to just survive in a world that sees them as an outcast or weird.  A neighbor just lost their job, or has illness in their family, so, share a meal.  Offer some comfort.  Take time to listen and let them know you are there if they need anything.  Share that one short moment.  Open  your arms, your heart.  Give, share, listen, help.  It's not always about money or land or treasures.  More often, it's about letting someone know, that you can listen, that you can be there for them.  Sometimes, it's just about looking for the good and letting your light shine.  Sometimes, it's just about helping someone change their life.  Sometimes, it's just about letting someone know that there is a tomorrow, that it will be okay.  Sometimes, it's just letting someone know that after the darkness, there is light.

     We all have so much in common with each other.  We all started out the same way.  We were all born.  We didn't just magically appear as 25 or 43 or 80.  Our bodies were all miraculously designed to function similarly, some more efficiently than others.  But, our blood is red, our hearts beat, our lungs draw in air.  We all have good days, bad days, moments that we shine, moments that we regret.  None of us is perfect.  Some of us have been plagued by illness or abnormalities, but we all started off the same way.  Whether your life is stimulated by success and money, just getting by or content with simplicity, king or pauper, we all started off the same way.  Whether you are passive, aggressive, outgoing or withdrawn, short, tall, skinny, fat, old, young, blonde, gray, light skin, dark skin, red skin, or ambiguous, none of us is perfect. but we all started off the same way.  And another miracle is that each and everyone of us is unique in our own way.  Each and everyone of us is blessed with gifts and virtues intended just for us.  Sadly, some turn out to be greedy, but others are giving, some needy, some blessed more than others, but we all started life the same way.  We were born.  We live, and from the moment we take our first breath, we begin the journey to our last.  Part of life is death.  It's what we do with all of those days in between, that matters.  It's what defines us.  It's what determines our eternity.  It's what defines our world.

     For a moment, one short moment in time, my prayer would be that every living thing on this earth would close their eyes and take a slow deep breath and then - just listen.  Listen to the silence, the sounds of peace.  Listen to the sounds of a bird singing, a cricket choir, the wind rustling through the leaves.  Listen to the subtle sound of their own heart beating and know that it is a miracle, a God given miracle.  With fists un-clenched, reach out for  the one closest to you.  Let them do the same and keep it going until there is not one that stands alone, not one that isn't part of the endless miracle of beating hearts, hands together, lives together, sharing that one short moment in time.  Now, that my friend, is BREAKING NEWS that we could all celebrate and rejoice. Remember, God never promised us it would be easy or perfect or without pain, illness, sorrow or fear.  But, God did promise to always be there...

     Psalm 37:24  "Though they stumble, they will not fall, for the Lord holds them by the hand."

     Please join me - for that a moment, that one short moment in time, and pray with me that every living thing on this earth would close their eyes, take that slow deep breath - and listen to the sounds of peace, bask in the glory and goodness and let it restore you.

     Breaking news shouldn't always have to be bad...wouldn't it be wonderful, wouldn't it just be wonderful if that one short moment in time really happened and then turned into a lifetime...

God bless us all and guide us as we journey through all of the days to come,

K