Monday Before Easter

So I heard the news of the bombings throughout the weekend.  Bombings of Syria and bombings in Egypt. Then shootings in another school in Southern California.  And I remember this is why Jesus came.  We are so lost on this big planet.  We can't figure it out.  How to get along and how to coexist and how to sustain peace.

I watched the video of the police officer who stopped the suicide bomber and made him go through the metal detector.  Such a small act saved many lives.  The officer probably just thought I'm doing my job, but he was extending life for people without realizing it.

As a one of us on this planet I find myself wishing I could change it.  I wish I could change people to not hate.  Make them not judge.  Cause them to be peaceable.  But then I start focusing on how I really want them to just be like me?  And I'm not so sure I'm the best model.  It hit me that maybe I shouldn't be focusing on trying to change people so much.  But as a Christ follower raised in the south who now finds himself in ministry, it seems like we were trained to believe that our main goal is to change people.  Change how they act and what they believe.  But if we are honest we struggle to change ourselves.

What if instead we did three things.  Encourage, Love, and Inspire.  If our lives accomplished these three task we would be in a much better place.  And our success in these areas doesn't depend on the response of the recipient.  Instead, it is determined by our commitment to these tenants.

This morning I'm headed to breakfast with one of the men I've committed to walk beside as long as God sees fit.  And I'm not going to make him into anything.  But if I can encourage and have his back, Love him through whatever is going on, and inspire him to take chances and be bold, then he and God will make change.  It's not my job.

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