Compassion

The Mirror Speaks

Blog_MirrorsSometimes I wake up in the morning, look in the mirror and say, “What happened?” It’s like disaster struck as I slept, wreaking havoc on my face and turning my hair into a tangled mess. My reflection doesn’t hesitate to talk back. “You got some work to do, sweetheart.”

It reminds me of a story my husband told me. Back when he was a teen, he and his cohorts decided to decorate a friend’s face with marker as he slept. Once they completed their masterpiece, they woke their friend and drove off to the local fast food joint. Met with unusual stares and amused glances, the friend made his way to the restroom. The whole place fell silent as a terrified scream filled the air. He had seen his reflection. And it wasn’t funny. At least, not to him.

Mirrors have a way of revealing our blind spots. In them, we see what’s out of place and what might need some fixing up. As for my husband’s friend, the mirror showed him a face that needed a good washing.

In my blog post The Get Up Call, I talked about how current events expose just how messed up our world is, and just how much we as individuals need change. News headlines have become like a mirror, revealing how desperately our hearts need transformation. In a world rife with violence, racism, terrorism, and more, we’re awakened to the reality of our need for change.

Now, when the guy with the markered-up face saw his reflection, do you think he tried to use the mirror to clean his face? Um, no. He went straight for the water. Only water has the power to make us clean.

God’s Word—the Bible, is a mirror. In it, we see how far we’ve fallen away from the standard of perfect love. But the mirror is not what cleanses us. Instead, it leads us to the water.

The mirror speaks. In this crazy world, we need a rescuer. Jesus came to be that rescuer, and he is the water that makes us clean.

Get Out of Bed!

Blog_Clocks

The problem is, we’re awake, but we’re still in bed. We’re awake, but we’re not getting up. We’re aware that our world is in turmoil, but we’re still comfy under the covers. We’ve responded to the wake up call, but we haven’t heard the get up call just yet. Waking up involves opening our eyes and ears. But we still haven’t moved from a position of comfort. Getting up requires action. It requires moving our feet and stepping away from our place of comfort and into the realm of movement.

 

Source: The Get Up Call

Photo Credit: File:Trento-Mercatino dei Gaudenti-alarm clocks.jpg – Wikimedia

The Get Up Call

Blog_AlarmClock02I used to love the snooze button. It was my early morning friend, allowing me a few extra minutes to enjoy the comfort of a warm bed before launching into a busy day. My daughter helped break my snooze-button habit for a short while. As a baby, she was up all hours of the night and morning. It was a glorious day when she finally learned to sleep past five. After that, mornings were blissful.

Until my son came along. He’s the enhanced model of the “Alarm Clock No Snooze” system. With him, there’s no in between. In a matter of seconds, he shifts from deep sleep to extreme awake. And once he’s up, I have no choice but to get up with him or there’s no telling what he’ll get into.

As for my daughter, she’s now progressed to where she claims to be “allergic of” getting up. To make things easier, I try to sing her awake. She opens her eyes. She smiles, she giggles. But still, she’s under the covers, comfy and on the verge of returning to dreamland. She’s awake, but she’s not up.

Observing my kids’ morning habits makes me realize a deeper reality. There’s a difference between waking up and getting up.

We hear about school shootings, terrorism, gang violence, racist acts, and more on a daily basis. The increasing amount of disturbing news has served as a wake up call to multitudes. Something’s wrong, and something needs to change. If we don’t deal with the root of the issues before us, things will only get worse.

The problem is, we’re awake, but we’re still in bed. We’re awake, but we’re not getting up. We’re aware that our world is in turmoil, but we’re still comfy under the covers. We’ve responded to the wake up call, but we haven’t heard the get up call just yet. It’s quite possible we’ve become “allergic of” getting up.

Waking up involves opening our eyes and ears. But we still haven’t moved from a position of comfort. Getting up requires action. It requires moving our feet and stepping away from our place of comfort and into the realm of movement.

We’ve come to the point in our lives when it’s not enough to wake up anymore. It’s time to get up. It’s time to do something. And that something begins with change, and the change begins with us.

What’s one of the first things we do when we get up? We look in the mirror. We see what needs to change, and we change it. In this case, the change begins in our hearts once we finally hear the get up call.

Rescue

Blog_CitySunrise

“For he will deliver the needy who cry out, the afflicted who have no one to help. He will take pity on the weak and the needy and save the needy from death. He will rescue them from oppression and violence, for precious is their blood in his sight.” (Psalm 72:12-14)

 

Source: Freedom Mourning

Photo Credit: File:Zepper-sunrise-over-the-niveous-city-of-bonn.jpg

He is Not Silent

Blog_Abandoned Well

If there is evil, it’s not because God is silent and inactive. It’s because we are. And we’ve traded the greater good for the empty cistern of selfish gain.

 

Source: Where are the Heroes of Today?

Photo Credit: Abandoned Water Well | Flickr – Photo Sharing!

Where are the Heroes of Today?

Blog_NoGreaterLoveI’m struck silent as I consider statistics on child poverty, abuse, and injustice. 143 million orphans. 1 billion children worldwide living in poverty. Over 3 million children abused each year. 150 million children engaged in child labor. 400,000 children trafficked across the borders each year. Reading these facts, I lament: these children need a hero. Actually, they need heroes to rise up and become a voice in our world of injustice.

In light of the grave suffering our world’s children endure, it’s a farce that our culture would attempt to re-define heroism according to a person’s investment in their own sensual fulfillment. Really? Would we call a hero one who would spend millions in pursuit of self-gratification? Is courage now dependent on one’s commitment to self-indulgent personal happiness? Is bravery now equated to one’s ability to acquire millions for squandering on selfish fantasies?

There was a time when a hero was one who sacrificed all for the good of others. Courage came in the form of laying down one’s life for a friend. Bravery meant facing death that others could live.

Our flimsy re-definition of heroism is but a symptom of deep-rooted issues. We’ve suppressed the truth of who we are and whose we are. We’ve forgotten why we’re here. If each would live according to our greater purpose and higher calling, how much of today’s suffering would dissipate? And how quickly.

Instead, we live ignorant and bored, ever in search of the latest diversion, however costly. And we read the headlines, shake our heads at the devastation and praise the man-made-woman all the while pointing our fingers at God in blame for the suffering.

If there is evil, it’s not because God is silent and inactive. It’s because we are. And we’ve traded the greater good for the empty cistern of selfish gain.

True Freedom

Blog_Chains

Freedom is not freedom if it comes at the expense of another’s liberty. #endmodernslavery

Source: Freedom Mourning

Photo Credit: File:Chain expressing freedom.JPG – Wikimedia Commons