LOVE MORE!!!

                How many of us would read this and be able to only love some of these neighbors?



Hi there,

So it's 3am and I guess I'm still someone who doesn't sleep normally. And I sure am still someone who probably thinks way too much. But That's me and maybe it's a good thing. Because I feel like some people don't think enough.

I wanted to write because I just saw something online that broke my heart. An old lady on a school bus being harassed by kids. You may have seen the youtube video. I know things like this happen every day. It seems that we care so much more when these things get caught on tape and we wonder how we can help this person. 

WE CAN HELP THESE PEOPLE! They are the people we see everyday that we judge. That we pass by and don't smile or say hi to. There will always be bullies. And we react to these videos by saying mean things about the kids or the ones who inflicted harm. I just think we are fighting fire with fire. I want to see people fight hate with love. Love your neighbor as yourself. See them for the beautiful unique beings they are! No one like them will ever EVER exist again. They need to be appreciated like a fine work of art.

I wrote a little poem/observational story about a guy who I used to watch clean up after people at Wendy's. I should have read this to him and maybe I still will. He was a light. Please be kind to each other. We are all valuable beyond measure.

I went to Wendy's for lunch.. Wendy's is not good for you (the food) but somethings at Wendy's are good for you..

There is a man at Wendy's his name is Ken.. I think Ken is the nicest man I have ever come across.. He is an old man, looks maybe sixty something. He has bright eyes, not old eyes..

Ken works at Wendy's cleaning up after people and handing out mints..

Every time he sees me he asks me the same question.. Maybe Ken is forgetful or maybe he likes my answer.. He always seems very interested either way.. He asks "What do you do?" I tell him "I make movies". He says "You can do that around here?" "yes", I say.. "But not very much". He pats me on the shoulder and looks excited at the prospect of movies being made in simple little New Brunswick.. "need any actors?" he asks jokingly.. He always talks about how we've acted in films together..

A part of me knows Ken is too simple and too humble to really care much about movies.

He smiles and walks over to another table with people I don't know.. I wonder if he asks them the same thing and I wonder what they answer. I see them smile and I know they like Ken too.. I wonder where he goes after he leaves Wendy's..

Ken cleans the tables with a smile, hands out mints and asks people what they do.. He's a servant, he's an old man and he's a child.. With a heart bigger than the sun and twice as warm.. He has more in his eyes than in his words and I am glad I went to Wendy's for lunch..

Please love each other. If you're reading this. Just take the time today to smile at someone who may need it or say hello to someone. You never know when that person might really need some light. Please don't judge. Not based on looks, personality, style or anything you don't understand. Ask yourself how you would want people to treat you.

We are all scared but we don't have to be alone.

Be thankful, happy, amazed!

 

Have you looked up lately?

I can't help but be amazed by the universe.. It's huge! I mean...... HUGE!!! I guess you could look at it and realize that the problems we let plague our days in comparison are sooo insignificant relative to it's size.. Or you could look at it and think how important or lucky we really are to even be alive.

As a bit of a reference to the size of our universe here's something interesting..Voyager 1 is a shuttle launched by NASA to study our solar system, it's also currently the fastest man made object. It travels at a staggering 17.07 km/s, or 61,452 kilometers per hour (38,185 mph). Yet even at this speed it will not reach the nearest star to our solar system (Alpha Centuri) for 134,433.2 years...

Think about that for a second.. That's the next closest star to our sun..

Based on current estimates, there are about 1,000 stars to every grain of sand on Earth!! There are an estimated 100 to 200 billion galaxies. So taking a conservative number of 100 billion stars per galaxy gives an approximate total of 10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 stars. (Which is 10 sextillion)..

That should have blown your mind!!!Remember that we are talking about getting to the closest star which is roughly 4.3 light years away.. The universe itself or at least the region visible from Earth (the observable universe) is about 92 billion light years across.. And most theories about the nature of the universe agree that it is most likely expanding constantly at the speed of light.. Which means it truly could be infinite.

I know this is a lot of stats and probably most of you won't read all this but the point is we are but a spec, a tiny yet beautiful planet in this vast expanse that we call the universe.. We are the perfect distance from our sun for life.. We are more than lucky.. Life is a miracle. Take a deep breath and thank God for the gift of it all, most of which we can't even comprehend.

So if you are driving to work and you spill your coffee, please just look up at the sky and remember how small and lucky you are to exist at all..

What stinks!?

Ever wake up in the morning and wonder, What the heck is that smell?!

If you think I'm speaking of midnight toots I am not! I am speaking of what happens when water doesn't flow.. And no I am not talking about having to pee either. I am using a metaphor here ya goof!

Does your life look like, or smell like this?

When water gets trapped and can't flow it becomes stagnant. Define this word Joel!

Okay.

stag·nant/ˈstagnənt/

Adjective:

(of a body of water or the atmosphere of a confined space) Having no current or flow and often having an unpleasant smell as a consequence. Showing no activity; dull and sluggish: "a stagnant economy". Not advancing or developing.

So when you wake up in the morning and smell something, could it be something stagnant? Maybe you live next to a pond, or maybe the smell is coming from your life?

I know I've been waking up with some stinkyness lately. Probably for a few reasons, but mostly I haven't been flowing, moving, doing.... Yes I wake up and literally move and do things, but am I doing anything that I am "Called" to do? With out these things our lives begin to lack activity, become dull, sluggish. Not advancing or developing.

Do you think before water flows it decides whether it should flow or not? Luckily for water gravity just kind of takes over. Sometimes I think it would be good if gravity forced us to move as well. Does water worry about being successful in it's flowing? Whether it will flow to where it is meant to be? NO. It just flows when it has freedom to.

WE HAVE FREEDOM TO FLOW! WHY DO WE CHOOSE NOT TO?! WE WILL END UP STINKING IF WE DON'T!!

We don't even have to worry if we will flow properly to where we need to be. GOD has taken care of that. So why do we become stagnant?

FEAR????

Oh my my! I hate the word as I hate what it encompasses. It holds us back when we think it is protecting us. It is the master of all deception. A fun little acronym for fear, False Evidence Appearing Real. When we were cave men/women and ran away from a saber tooth tiger, that was good fear. When we don't try something because we might fail, don't say something because we might be wrong, sit at home instead of going out because something bad might happen, that is a bad kind of fear. Again it can lead to being a stinky dude or dudette! Who wants to be stinky?
When fear stops us from doing something we are called to do the deception has stopped us from bringing life to others and ourselves. Just like a river that stops flowing..

So where does the stink comes from?

I read a little about it online (also know about it because of my degree in stinkology) And it's because simply put, things in the water begin to die and decompose when the water doesn't flow. So stagnancy leads to death.. I don't mean if you don't move in your life you will die.. I mean if you don't move in your life you will feel less alive. Your life will suffer and it also won't lead to you bringing life to others. Your river will be all damned up.

We are meant to flow!

A river flows and brings life to all around it. Even most communities are built around a moving body of water. It is such a great symbol for a healthy life! And when a rock falls in a river and stops some of the flow, the river doesn't wait and think about what should be done or out of fear stop flowing. It flows around and sure enough it gets to where it needs to be.

That is so much like us in life. We get all fearful of whether we are going the right places or moving when we are supposed to. A rock falls in front of us and in stead of flowing around it we stop flowing all together. We start to stink and then inevitably we aren't bringing life to ourselves or others.

We have to trust in God! That when we flow God will take care of us getting to the dead trees and vegetation. That even if it feels like we aren't going where we are supposed to sometimes, God can use our water as long as it's flowing..

So my advice to you and to me and to the frogs and the monkeys.... WE NEED TO FLOW!!

Here's a new acronym for ya.. FLOW, Freely Living Optimistically Waiting..

Live freely and have hope that God will do with you what needs to be done.

Romans 8:28 NIV

²⁸ And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

So FLOW! (Freely Live Optimistically waiting). Don't let FEAR (false evidence appearing real) stop you from bringing life to others or living what you are called to do! The last thing we want to be is stinky lifeless people right?

This is the picture of what your life could look like..