"My Religion is Loving Kindness"

I was running out to the car in the rain and I caught sight of a bumper sticker.  I didn't stop to really look at it (cuz of the rain) but I caught the words, "MY RELIGION IS LOVING KINDNESS"

I've thought a lot about that since then. 

Now, I'm not encouraging the throwing out of all doctrine, etc. but the bumper sticker has a point!  Loving kindness is VITAL.  There is much 'debatable' doctrine and many things that separate and cause division that has nothing to do with loving kindness and much to do about not having loving kindness.

"If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. 

If I have the gift of prophecy, and know all mysteries and all knowledge; and if I have all faith, so as to remove mountains, but do not have love, I am nothing.

And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing."

-1 Corinthians 13:1-3

Ok, if you really read this and believe it, doesn't this say that love is supreme?  Even overtops some very amazing other things?

So, at the end of the day I want to look back and ask, "Did I love today?"  And if that answer is yes, then I will consider my day a success.

 

Legacy

When I first thought of the importance of legacy, I sort of dismissed it as pompous.  But the more that I think about it, the more important that I consider it.

Considering the impact of my existence, legacy is the key!  If I live and die and do great things, but leave none of who I am invested in others... then really, what have I accomplished? 

Some people seem to leave their 'legacy' mark on large numbers of people (ie Billy Graham or George Washington or CS Lewis or Jane Austin or Isaac Newton...) Others seem to leave their life contributions on a small intimate group; close friends, family, children...

I'd like to think that I somehow could impact anyone who I encounter (some people do), but I don't believe that He has equipped me in this way.  So, for me I need to concentrate on investing me into those who I am in intimate relationships with.

I am who I am because of who God has made me and how I have been shaped by those who I have lived life with (which I would also put in the 'who God has made me' category).  I am my own person, but I do feel like a mixed drink - meaning if my mom were a red drink, I'd have a significant portion of that poured into my glass and if my dad were blue, I'd be tinted in that shade.  And I would have differing amounts of liquids poured into my cup by different people that have shared/impacted my life.

There is an amazing feeling of strength and hope that I feel as I consider those who have become part of who I am.  Those whose kind words soothed my soul and molded me.  Whose loving touch secured me.  Whose encouraging challenge thrust me forward.  Whose enduring patience continues to awaken perseverance in me even as I remember.  Whose wild laughter sparked hope.  Whose smile generated peace.  Strength upon strength comes to me as a result of those before me.

There is something precious in this; precious and powerful!

I can remember feeling so sad when my grandmother died, sad for my kids that they would never get to benefit from her loving kindness.  She was such a beautiful, loving person who left her mark on all who she touched.  As I was lamenting for my children, I felt the Lord speak into my ear, "They will not miss out because you have in you part of her and can be to your children what she was to you."

That's legacy.

Part of my life purpose is to live, engage, and invest in my children my legacy.  Right now it is a HUGE part of my life purpose because of what season I am in.  I want to give parts of myself to them to build and strengthen them and provide generational 'roots.'  Roots that are pillars of the encompassing positive attributes of all who have been poured into me.

I know that when you pour colored liquids together, they typically mix into some murky grey or brown.  I like to think of my 'life glass' of mixed legacies as a beautiful, multi-colored, brilliant, crazy, fantastic, varied, bold 'drink' that did not become dull and murky but somehow maintained each separate color while becoming one.

Yes, I am seeking.  Seeking to leave a legacy.

As I consider who I am and the failings that I possess, this task is daunting and I can easily give way to condemnation, yet I cling to the secure hope that He will not fail.

We are Seekers

Hmmmm?  Is this true?  Is this part of our nature?

Am I seeking?  What am I seeking?

Careful here, cuz your answer could be revealing (I'm talking to myself here).  Do you really want to know?

Ok, start making your silly lists.

What am I seeking:
Meaning/Purpose - which in turn gives an avenue toward fulfillment
Legacy
Value
Joy
Relationship (with God and with man)
Peace
Enlightenment

Ok, considering this list, I think that really I could begin with RELATIONSHIP and everything else would fall under that one category:

Relationship (with God and with man)
 - Meaning/Purpose
 - Legacy
 - Value
 - Joy
 - Peace
 - Enlightenment

What about me, just as me, an individual? etc... Well, I find my identity wrapped up spiritually with who I am in God, so 'just me' would fall under my relationship with God.

That's my list... I guess the next questions should be, 'Am I seeking these things?'  'How so?

Skinny Dipping?

The other day I was sitting at a coffee shop with two of my daughters.  My mind had been thinking about something, as sometimes is the case, and I wanted to get some outside thoughts... Now, sometimes I have to admit I think about strange stuff.  But, hey, if the kids don't know by now....

So, I let the 'weird' question fly, "Hey, would you guys ever go skinny dipping?"

My line of thinking was not all about skinny dipping, but rather about our inhibitions and what creates them and how they affect our decisions and our thoughts about ourselves...

I got the inevitable, 'mom you are crazy' look from them.  They must be on pins and needles half the time wondering what odd thing I'll say next (unfortunately, this is not an isolated event).  Maybe my brain has been injured and these 'hair-brained' thoughts are a result; I don't know...

Anyway, after the blank stare for a moment, I pried, "Well?"

"Nope, never - I don't even dress in front of anybody." 

A nod of agreement from daughter #2.

There is a temptation to think thoughts like, 'How wonderfully modest they are...' but I found myself asking, "Why are they so self-conscious?"  Like even in an appropriate setting (if there is such a thing - I guess I think that there could be) - why are they so adamant about not stripping off the outer shell? 

I'm partially trying to explain why I was asking such a question when daughter #1 pipes up and asks, "Mom, are you going through an identity crisis?"

Can't get anything past them!

"Well, maybe" I say.

I have been thinking about how much of what we do is a reflection of what others think... and if I was in the company of a small group of women, would I feel comfortable enough with who I am on the inside to strip off the outside?  Hmmm?  I know - weird.  I know that the whole nude/sexual/sensuous thing is a big NO NO for many conservative thinkers, but in this context I'm just considering (without there being any inappropriate acting or thinking in that realm) What would I do?  And, more importantly, WHY?

If I am secure with who I am, why would I care if someone saw me without clothes?  Again, let's try to keep this hypothetical questioning in the 'all things appropriate' mode.

Isn't my biggest concern, 'what will others think of my breaking down, bare, no way to cover it up, body?'  My, no way to hide flaws?

Would I struggle with comparing and feeling ashamed and embarrassed over what's true about my outside or would I enjoy the inside of others as well as my own? 

If the outside were no longer an issue, would we be able to focus better on the inside?

I am confident that this hypothetical situation probably doesn't occur very often (in the appropriate context that I'm referring to) in reality - but could it? 

I'm leaning on the 'it could' and possibly even the 'it should'.  Because I would want to be able to celebrate the inner beauty that God has manifested in each one of us - without the taintedness that comes from the putting on of the 'cover'.