There has been a lot happening in my life that I could complain about, until I look around. The sad truth is that I have been complaining, and worrying and generally being ungrateful. I found out today a friend has pancreatic cancer. I know someone who has lost a child and a spouse in the same year. Then there are those pictures taken in far away and not so far away places of children in hunger and pain. Then I take a close look in the mirror and tell myself, “Just shut up.” Just shutting up isn’t enough.
The thing about being too mirror focused is that it keeps me from looking around at a world filled with folks with much bigger problems than I have or have ever had. You can’t do much looking in the mirror. Once you have shaved, brushed and combed, you have pretty much run out of useful activities.
I need to spend more time looking out the window, checking out a world full of suffering souls. Even that should not occupy too much of my time. I need to do a lot more doing than looking at myself or at the world. Jesus told us to “go” not to “look” or “cry” or even “sympathize.” He said “go.”
You can ask what good can I do, but he handled that as well. He said go and make disciples. Discipleship is the answer to pretty much everything bad we see out there. Especially the broader concept of discipleship that Jesus had in mind. Making disciples, doesn’t just mean, or even primarily mean, preaching to. It means loving and holding and feeding and sheltering, just for starters.
Satan loves mirrors and hates windows. He loves back sides and hates feet. He loves mouths and hates hands. Let’s do more stuff that Jesus did, like loving and holding and healing and discipling and less that Satan does like looking in mirrors, worrying, complaining, and criticising. I have done way too of the Satan stuff and not nearly enough of the Jesus stuff. Time for a change.
Blessed post.