Today is ripe for comment. I am deliberately writing today.
As you process the events of the day, consider that you are not responsible for others' actions. However, each of us is responsible for our own actions. In the end, once we have passed away, all we will have will be the consequences of our own actions. Each of us will have to answer for how we, as individuals, have chosen to act. So make choices now which will bear good fruit both in this lifetime as well as in the next.
Mohandas Gandhi explained, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." If you are disturbed by something which has happened, then do something. Do what you think needs to be done. Be what you feel the world needs. Whatever you choose to do, do your best. In his book "The Four Agreements," Don Miguel Ruiz delineates this rule as how we are called to live our lives. God realizes that we're not going to perform perfectly; God just asks that we do our best.
In addition to doing our spiritual duty by doing our best, it has been shown that people derive psychological benefits from choosing to take action. When we ruminate, when we overthink about our problems, we tend to reinforce whatever degree of depression we tend to feel over the dilemma. However, when we distract ourselves, or refocus our attention onto other matters, we tend to improve our mood. Also, when we are more active, getting up and being mobile, we make it more likely we'll feel better. Yet when we take a more passive, that is, sedentary, approach, we'll experience less of a lift in our mood.*
So in the midst of processing the circumstances of today, I have found that I have felt better today as I have decided to get out and take action. Historically over the course of my life I have found this to be true as well. There are specific moments I recall when I was an attorney, when I was feeling down. At those points, when I reached out to help educate someone about the law, I felt better than I did before I did so. Conversely, those who knew me in my adolescence knew me to be a rather depressed person. That was back when I didn't get out and take much action, certainly far less than I have been taking over the last half dozen years. Thus I recommend being deliberately active and moving to be the force you think the world needs. In light of recent events, I don't mean to sound dismissive of how some people may feel right now. However, what I can say for certain is that this approach has repeatedly worked for me over the course of my life, in stark contrast to when I have chosen not to follow it.
Today once again I witnessed the truth of this approach. Someone I know went today and brought some food to someone who lives close by. As she took the food, she smiled and expressed gratitude for receiving the food. The giver expressed feeling better after handing the food to her, having had a desire to take immediate concrete steps to try to be generous amidst witnessing a perceived selfishness and greed by some in our society.
The recipient of the food too shared about an important lesson she learned yet again. In that interaction in which she received the food, she shared about how she recently was awarded custody of her son. In speaking with the person bringing the food to her, she explained the state of her mind, heart and soul as she had been pondering her quest to be granted custody of her son. She said that she decided to turn it over to God. She added that God took care of it for her.
In light of this message of relying on God, which inevitably leads one to pray, here I am led to another important point, which always applies. However, the danger of succumbing to this particular trap is especially perilous when one feels that one is helpless, and that all is hopeless. If you pray, the worst possible thing you could possibly do would be to stop praying. When you are in spiritual darkness, you have the greatest need to pray. Saint Paul exhorted us, "Pray without ceasing."**
Beyond praying always, Saint Paul also urged us, "Rejoice always."*** He also told us, "In all circumstances give thanks."**** At this point, you might be thinking something like, "Doug, I was humoring you up to now, but I can't swallow this. When inflammatory, incendiary, divisive statements are made which demean and degrade people, and then such rhetoric is implicitly approved by many, you expect me to be joyous and to thank God?" If we truly love others, then we will be disturbed when people are debased and disrespected. God calls us not to be pleased and joyous because others are being mistreated, but to be grateful and joyous to Him that we are presented with the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves. Are we grateful to God for the opportunity which God has given to us? Anything except sin can sanctify us, that is, bring us closer to God, if only we respond in the right way. I'm not trying to suggest that we're presented with an easy task here; I readily admit this is very difficult work. Anything worth achieving comes at great personal cost. The greater the worth, the more it costs. If you believe this maxim as it relates to personal wealth, why reject this axiom when applied to spiritual progress?
Dorothy Day, who co-founded the Catholic Worker movement with Peter Maurin, said, "Love is the only solution." If we're really serious about living a life of love, then the question is presented to each and every one of us, how far are we going to go to try to love? Jesus told us, " No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."***** Jesus did exactly that. He died on the cross for us, obedient even to the point of death, allowing Himself to be humbled even more than He already had been humbled.****** He also instructed us, "Love one another as I love you."******* We are called to die to ourselves so we can better serve others. We are called to die to our own egos, so as to be better able to love our neighbor. When we strive for our egos to die, we can go beyond ourselves. Then, instead of staying inside ourselves, we can go further, to try to help someone who may have hurt us. Then, by the grace of God, it becomes possible to do what had previously seemed impossible to do.
In light of the grace of God, it becomes clearer how Jesus directed us
"You have heard that it was said,
'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I say to you, Love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your Heavenly Father,
for He makes His Sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect."********
In the end, the goal is love. To love as God loves is to love all God created. God loves everyone He created. He may be displeased with certain persons at certain times. However, God still loves those persons. While God is loving all of the people He created, we are to strive to love our neighbor too.
We are to love our neighbor despite how he or she may act in ways we don't approve, and which we might even find repellent or abhorrent. But although we might find someone else's choices distressing, we should not worry about what the future holds and how it will be affected by others' decisions. Jesus instructed us, "Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil."*********
Don't worry about other people, what they say, or what they do. We never were responsible for their actions; we never will be. In the end, we won't be asked to answer for their behavior.
In the end, we will be called to account for our own actions. So despite the events of the day, the question remains: what are you going to do?
* Here is an excellent example of how I have continued to benefit from my Bachelor's degree in Psychology. While an undergraduate student, I learned that distracting, or refocusing, oneself tends to be more effective in remediating depression than ruminating. In learning about the same psychological studies, I learned that activity tends to be more effective than passivity in remediating depression. Prof. Jannay Morrow, one of my mentors while I was a Psychology major, had previously conducted these studies.
** 1 Thessalonians 5:17
*** 1 Thessalonians 5:16
**** 1 Thessalonians 5:18
***** John 15:13
****** Philippians 2:8
******* John 15:12
******** Matthew 5:43-48
********* Matthew 6:34
As you process the events of the day, consider that you are not responsible for others' actions. However, each of us is responsible for our own actions. In the end, once we have passed away, all we will have will be the consequences of our own actions. Each of us will have to answer for how we, as individuals, have chosen to act. So make choices now which will bear good fruit both in this lifetime as well as in the next.
Mohandas Gandhi explained, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world." If you are disturbed by something which has happened, then do something. Do what you think needs to be done. Be what you feel the world needs. Whatever you choose to do, do your best. In his book "The Four Agreements," Don Miguel Ruiz delineates this rule as how we are called to live our lives. God realizes that we're not going to perform perfectly; God just asks that we do our best.
In addition to doing our spiritual duty by doing our best, it has been shown that people derive psychological benefits from choosing to take action. When we ruminate, when we overthink about our problems, we tend to reinforce whatever degree of depression we tend to feel over the dilemma. However, when we distract ourselves, or refocus our attention onto other matters, we tend to improve our mood. Also, when we are more active, getting up and being mobile, we make it more likely we'll feel better. Yet when we take a more passive, that is, sedentary, approach, we'll experience less of a lift in our mood.*
So in the midst of processing the circumstances of today, I have found that I have felt better today as I have decided to get out and take action. Historically over the course of my life I have found this to be true as well. There are specific moments I recall when I was an attorney, when I was feeling down. At those points, when I reached out to help educate someone about the law, I felt better than I did before I did so. Conversely, those who knew me in my adolescence knew me to be a rather depressed person. That was back when I didn't get out and take much action, certainly far less than I have been taking over the last half dozen years. Thus I recommend being deliberately active and moving to be the force you think the world needs. In light of recent events, I don't mean to sound dismissive of how some people may feel right now. However, what I can say for certain is that this approach has repeatedly worked for me over the course of my life, in stark contrast to when I have chosen not to follow it.
Today once again I witnessed the truth of this approach. Someone I know went today and brought some food to someone who lives close by. As she took the food, she smiled and expressed gratitude for receiving the food. The giver expressed feeling better after handing the food to her, having had a desire to take immediate concrete steps to try to be generous amidst witnessing a perceived selfishness and greed by some in our society.
The recipient of the food too shared about an important lesson she learned yet again. In that interaction in which she received the food, she shared about how she recently was awarded custody of her son. In speaking with the person bringing the food to her, she explained the state of her mind, heart and soul as she had been pondering her quest to be granted custody of her son. She said that she decided to turn it over to God. She added that God took care of it for her.
In light of this message of relying on God, which inevitably leads one to pray, here I am led to another important point, which always applies. However, the danger of succumbing to this particular trap is especially perilous when one feels that one is helpless, and that all is hopeless. If you pray, the worst possible thing you could possibly do would be to stop praying. When you are in spiritual darkness, you have the greatest need to pray. Saint Paul exhorted us, "Pray without ceasing."**
Beyond praying always, Saint Paul also urged us, "Rejoice always."*** He also told us, "In all circumstances give thanks."**** At this point, you might be thinking something like, "Doug, I was humoring you up to now, but I can't swallow this. When inflammatory, incendiary, divisive statements are made which demean and degrade people, and then such rhetoric is implicitly approved by many, you expect me to be joyous and to thank God?" If we truly love others, then we will be disturbed when people are debased and disrespected. God calls us not to be pleased and joyous because others are being mistreated, but to be grateful and joyous to Him that we are presented with the circumstances in which we currently find ourselves. Are we grateful to God for the opportunity which God has given to us? Anything except sin can sanctify us, that is, bring us closer to God, if only we respond in the right way. I'm not trying to suggest that we're presented with an easy task here; I readily admit this is very difficult work. Anything worth achieving comes at great personal cost. The greater the worth, the more it costs. If you believe this maxim as it relates to personal wealth, why reject this axiom when applied to spiritual progress?
Dorothy Day, who co-founded the Catholic Worker movement with Peter Maurin, said, "Love is the only solution." If we're really serious about living a life of love, then the question is presented to each and every one of us, how far are we going to go to try to love? Jesus told us, " No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends."***** Jesus did exactly that. He died on the cross for us, obedient even to the point of death, allowing Himself to be humbled even more than He already had been humbled.****** He also instructed us, "Love one another as I love you."******* We are called to die to ourselves so we can better serve others. We are called to die to our own egos, so as to be better able to love our neighbor. When we strive for our egos to die, we can go beyond ourselves. Then, instead of staying inside ourselves, we can go further, to try to help someone who may have hurt us. Then, by the grace of God, it becomes possible to do what had previously seemed impossible to do.
In light of the grace of God, it becomes clearer how Jesus directed us
"You have heard that it was said,
'You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.'
But I say to you, Love your enemies,
and pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your Heavenly Father,
for He makes His Sun rise on the bad and the good,
and causes rain to fall on the just and the unjust.
For if you love those who love you,
what recompense will you have?
Do not the tax collectors do the same?
And if you greet your brothers only, what is unusual about that?
Do not the pagans do the same?
So be perfect, just as your Heavenly Father is perfect."********
In the end, the goal is love. To love as God loves is to love all God created. God loves everyone He created. He may be displeased with certain persons at certain times. However, God still loves those persons. While God is loving all of the people He created, we are to strive to love our neighbor too.
We are to love our neighbor despite how he or she may act in ways we don't approve, and which we might even find repellent or abhorrent. But although we might find someone else's choices distressing, we should not worry about what the future holds and how it will be affected by others' decisions. Jesus instructed us, "Do not worry about tomorrow; tomorrow will take care of itself. Sufficient for a day is its own evil."*********
Don't worry about other people, what they say, or what they do. We never were responsible for their actions; we never will be. In the end, we won't be asked to answer for their behavior.
In the end, we will be called to account for our own actions. So despite the events of the day, the question remains: what are you going to do?
* Here is an excellent example of how I have continued to benefit from my Bachelor's degree in Psychology. While an undergraduate student, I learned that distracting, or refocusing, oneself tends to be more effective in remediating depression than ruminating. In learning about the same psychological studies, I learned that activity tends to be more effective than passivity in remediating depression. Prof. Jannay Morrow, one of my mentors while I was a Psychology major, had previously conducted these studies.
** 1 Thessalonians 5:17
*** 1 Thessalonians 5:16
**** 1 Thessalonians 5:18
***** John 15:13
****** Philippians 2:8
******* John 15:12
******** Matthew 5:43-48
********* Matthew 6:34
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