To my siblings in Christ,
As you know, there is a lot going on in the world. Honestly, it seems like most of us are on edge. Schools are announcing how they are going to teach students in the fall. This can cause so many emotions in administrators, teachers, parents, school staff and students. One person might be pleased and confident with the decisions, while another has several choice words for those same decisions. We are gearing up for not just an election season, but a Presidential election season. The one thing everyone seems to agree on is that this is an important election that will have affects for decades to come. Therefore, people seem to be nervous, scared, excited, or anxious about what may or may not happen. Finally, you have the situations that are specific to you. You might have job insecurity. You might be in an unhealthy relationship. Depression could be a regular part of your day. I don’t know what it is, but I am willing to bet, at some level you wish something could be going differently or better.
With all of the proceeding, this is what I ask of you. Be kind. Be kind to yourself. Be kind to one another. Be kind to the people you love. Be kind to the people you struggle with and who struggle with you. Be kind because everyone is fighting a battle that you know nothing about.
We already put enough pressure and stress on ourselves and criticize ourselves that we don’t need each other to help us out in that department. What we need is for each other to model kindness, forgiveness and empathy.
You don’t have to agree with someone to be kind to them. You don’t even have to like someone to be kind to them. Remember, Jesus doesn’t say to “like” everyone, as if you are going to be best friends with everyone you meet. Jesus says to love everyone. The way we express love is not dependent on whether we get along with someone or share common interests. Love is rooted in recognizing the common worth and value that each and every person inherently has within them because they are created in the image of God, even if we feel we have a hard time seeing that image ourselves. Remember, they might have a hard time seeing that same image of God when looking at us!
You have heard me say, the three most important rules when interpreting scripture is, “Context. Context. Context.” I just ran across another quote by American author Henry James, who wrote at the turn of the 19th Century. He says, “Three things in life are important. Be kind. Be kind. Be kind.” Seems like words that God could have written.
Be Kind.
Pastor Tim