THE GOLDEN RULE
Our world is changing faster than my brain can comprehend. I have had to turn off the media just to keep my sanity in check. Yesterday my go-to radio station for peace and relaxation had a sound-bite of doom and gloom. Even they were at a loss of what to do.
With all the problems we (the human race) face with natural disasters, disease, sickness, abuse, loneliness, most of which are circumstances beyond one's control we add fuel to the fire with other stuff we can control, such as politics in all its forms, racism in all its forms, and pandemonium in all its forms. Is it any wonder that according to Mental Health America anxiety disorders are among the most common mental illnesses in America. Our over tired, over worked, over stressed brains just can't take all this nonsense.
I have the cure! On one hand it is extremely simple. On the other hand it is; well, there are words to describe its difficulty.
THE CURE
When the Pharisees heard that he had silenced the Sadducees, they gathered together and one of them tested him by asking, "Teacher, which commandment in the law is the greatest?" He said to him, "You shall love the Lord, your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the greatest and the first commandment. The second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. The whole law and the prophets depend on these two commandments." Matthew 22:34-40
Simple right? Follow the law and all will go well. It really is that easy. I know someone will say, "Well, I don't believe in God or your Jesus!" Okay, ignore the first one, which I do believe is the greatest thing we can do. But just follow the second as mentioned above, "You shall love your neighbor as yourself" which is also the Golden Rule, Do to others whatever you would have them do to you. Matthew 7:12
Wether you are a believer or not, the Golden Rule is universal. I guess in a utopia it is easy to follow such a basic code. But the real world is diseased. The garden of Eden was perfect until a rule was broken and the world has never been the same. Once we allow the devil in all its forms in to our lives disease in all its forms takes root. It all comes down to one thing, Free Will. Humans are not animals acting on instinct. We have feelings, a soul, and higher brain function, well, most of us have the latter.
I do wish it could be this simple. But everyone has to make a choice to do good in order for it to work. I can't change the world, but I can change myself and maybe my little ripple of good might bump into someone else stirring a desire in them to send the ripple on. I am far from perfect, but I hope I am throwing more rocks of peace into the pool than those of despair. Good does go around and I do believe in THE CURE. If enough good is thrown out there maybe its wake will spill over the bad and create a tsunami that eliminates all the evil from the hearts of those infected.
I began this post with the title SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR and added photos from the holiday weekend. I had a fantastic three days here at the lake social distancing with immediate family. But my brain took this post in a different direction. I am not a biblical scholar, I am not educated in our political system (even though some days I think I should run for president), nor do I have any experience in other worldly matters. I am just an average human with a huge heart that aches as she watches what is happening to our world - domestic and abroad.
I will always continue to be thankful for all that I, I will continue to share THE CURE, and I will continue live by example the Golden Rule.
Emily
By the way, if you follow the first and second commandments, the other's are just redundant. So you really only need to remember two, not ten. Because if you follow the first two you will never do the last 8. Just saying...
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