WWJD?

There was a time (not too long ago) when those 4 letters had tremendous import.  Kids wore them on bracelets, on medallions around their necks and emblazoned on t-shirts.  Oddly enough, I don't recall seeing a lot of adults sporting that sentiment.  But, you know, as adults, we are the ones who most need the reminder to always ask ourselves "what WOULD Jesus do?"

I wonder why we no longer wonder or care?  Is it because we have the advantage (or disadvantage) of having tons of information and resources to draw from?

One thing I've learned is that for whatever personal ax you are currently grinding, you will always find some pithy person or a self help guru who gives you permission to grind away.  Believe me, I have tools sharpened to a fine honed edge and I am finding they don't make me feel any better.  Mostly because I've perfected the skill to the point they cut both ways.  

Everyone on earth has stuff.  Suitcases, duffel bags, steamer trunks, purses, hanging bags and Walmart sacks full of their own things.  Things they've done, things they've said.  Hurtful things they have inflicted and hurtful arrows shot at their own bodies.  We are a frail and imperfect people.  We injure and we suffer injuries.  What we seem to be missing is owning our own part of injuries and using the principles of Jesus, forgiving and moving on.  Does this mean we will never suffer again.  No.  Does it mean the lesson is forever learned and we will no longer hurt someone else?  Also, no.  The best we can ever do is to practice the lesson every time is is put in front of us.

Buuuuuutttt, that's work.......that's haaaard!  And, besides, I don't really like the person I'm ticked off at. 

 Every lesson in the Bible that tugs at my heart are the ones where Jesus had every reason to call down the Angels to inflict damage on someone who richly deserved it.  But He didn't, instead He loved, He taught by example.  He showed us what WE are capable of if we can turn loose of self and concentrate on the empathy we can find for people who need it.  Not every problem humans have are known.  We see bruises and scars on the outside, but those are the ones that heal and disappear.  It is the ones inside that leave lasting damage.  How many of us actually take the time to talk to someone we have issues with and try to find what is building a wall between us?  To communicate our own needs and in return listen to theirs?

Jesus intended for it to be hard.  Why?  Could it be because every single moment of every single day He is having to forgive us, over and over and over?  When the Disciples asked how often they should forgive....Jesus answered "I say not....seven times; but until seventy time seven" - Matthew 18:22, KJV.  He goes on to counsel "Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave YOU" - Ephesians 4:32

As a little girl I remember seeing the above picture in many different renderings and I always knew what it meant.  Jesus was teaching his children.  People tend to see the little ones in this picture but they seem to miss the presence of the women pictured.  Jesus was speaking, not just to the little ears, he was also speaking to the jaded, tired and frustrated ears as well.

We have lived through tough moments....all of us.  When you are my age, you lived through the fringes of the Depression followed by the Dust Bowl Days, you've ebbed and flowed through the Peace and Love psychedelic moments.  You've seen the drive for the rights of all people, you feared for the world through the riots of the 60s and the 70s, you've seen prosperity and poverty flip like a coin carelessly tossed.  You've seen beautiful Patriotism and horrific terrorism.  You've seen a trust in America's leaders dissolve into a burning suspicion of them all.  You've seen the flocking to the church houses and the running away from them because the lessons weren't fun.  We have looked at our children and delighted in their accomplishments while fearing what kind of world they were inheriting.

None of us exists in a vacuum and none of us can exist alone.  We need each other....today more than ever and we never know which one of those people we turn our backs on today might be the person we most need at some point in our life.  But we also never know when we might be the person someone else needs most of all.

When I write it is for my own good, my own spirit and my own edification.  I would never presume to think anyone should listen to my ramblings with any degree of import.........or any other person who lectures about how I, or you, or we should be conducting ourselves.

I think really, the only question we need to ask and the only source for clarity is this...exactly....WHAT WOULD JESUS DO?  And what would He tells us to do?