Thursday, August 2, 2012
Already Dead
It has been two years, three months and give or take a few days, since I have been shot. Though as the years progress I still fear that the future that I desire for my children to have will be extinct, only recognized as a dream that I once had. The future that consisted of people just being people agreeing to disagree, and a bitter sweet taste of the fruit that grows on the other side of the tree. But the reoccurrences of meeting face to face with the walking dead are beginning to happen far too often now. You are aware that we walk among the un-living? Among people who feel that there is absolutely nothing wrong with hurting innocent people. Among people who find pleasure in a stranger's demise. This species of people no longer possess the emotion to feel, because they are already dead...Somewhere after they lost the innocence that they once possessed as a small child, they became influenced and misguided. And we, you know the ''living,'' some of us have either striven to show compassion, or proven their reasoning for choosing to be without love, to be right and justifiable. We do this by simply segregating ourselves from the ''strange'' and ''uncommon'' folk that society may or may not evaluate before considering them to be okay to walk on the same brown dirt that most don't even acknowledge. Only by then they are already disassociated with the rest, and have turned to something and or someone that is so common and familiar to how they feel, forgotten and neglected. They become the living dead. Who are we then, if we never attempted to reach out to them fast enough? Though there is only so many tiny hours in a day that you may not see the end of.
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Even though we've been married for 5 years, I'm still amazed by your profound concepts on life. Your writings are both thought-provoking and inspirational; keep it coming, Heart. Love.
ReplyDeleteSister,
ReplyDeleteSo...you fear the future of your children? Interesting...is it because you are leaning more on the possibility that the world is filled more with those who are "dead" minded? Those with desires filled with intentions of harming other individuals? I challenge you to entertain the thought of just the opposite! Think of the numerous amount of people in this world who are filled with compassion, love, forgiveness...the "living" as you refer to them. YOU are one of them!! I challenge you to reflect on your experiences and take every opportunity to show your children how to love hard even in difficult times. Teach them how to be a "living" human being just as yourself. Trust that regardless of how "dead" the world is, God will always be your and their protector. That is all you can do. It does no good to walk this earth afraid of what evils others may carry out. That is "living" in fear...fear is what drives the "dead" minded. I love you!
This is something that has been on my mind as well for years, growing bigger every day as I too look at my children and see that this is not a world of "good" people, because there are none (Psalm 14:3).
ReplyDeleteBut though the battle to save the world may not be won by those in the world who have such hopes, there is something significant in treating the casualties of life in this world. When we have been given a mind that understands the underlying and obvious problems in the world and a heart for pursuing change, we have been called by God to be His hands and feet, working to heal bodies, hearts, and lead to the healing of the soul. We must respond to the needs of the people in this world who are suffering. And we must have love in every single thing we do.
One day, after dwelling upon how much I disliked some of the people that I worked with, I started to think about how much we are really all alike. When we start out in this life, most of us are met with a room full of people anticipating our arrival, expecting a great life of great success and joy for us. I thought about how most people have parents that love them, are proud of them, were brought joy by their children. I thought about some of the things that could have happened in their life that may have caused them to be vulnerable, to get knocked down, to get discouraged, and to get angry. I thought about how they probably need someone to encourage them instead of hate them, to show them love.
As a follower of Christ, a recipient of His love and grace, how could I be so selfish as to deny others that love, mercy, and grace and keep it all for myself?
Jesus said "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you, so that you may sons of your Father in heaven. For He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous. For if you love those who love you, what reward will you have?"(Matthew 5:44-46a).
As for our children living in this rough and decaying world, they will be our legacy and we must prepare them for living to serve others. We are planting seeds now just as they will plant seeds throughout their lives. This seed can be thorns and weeds, or they can be fruits and healing plants. Part of culturing our children is to act according to how we would have them act. We must not ignore the evil in this world, but we must must also not be a part of supporting it or indulging in it. One of the biggest influences a child or adult will have throughout their lives comes from what they see on the television or internet. While TV and internet are not inherently evil, much of what is presented on them is evil, debased, selfish, and a HUGE distraction from what problems exist in the world. Is there any worse kind of zombie than one that feeds from these sources and dies having accomplished nothing for the benefits of others?
But just as another who commented on this post remarked, there are some positives to living this life. These blessings are our children, our spouses, our loved-ones, our family, our friends, the natural beauty of creation, and the opportunity to make something of our time being here. The biggest blessings of all are our salvation in Jesus Christ and the honor and joy of discovering our purpose for being here on earth. The entire purpose of creation and all within it is to glorify God.