When you are stripped of everything you have ever known you are forced to pick up the pieces that lie shattered on the ground. No one wants to face that terrifying moment and most will fight it all the way. But consider this: That one terrifying moment might just define who you really are. If you run, if you fight it, you may wind up never fulfilling your true potential. All of us reach that special moment in our lives when we realize ‘things” certainly do not define who we are. Our own transparency teaches us relationships are really a place to rest our head and are the foundation of our very lives. After that nerve-racking defining moment hits us between the eyes, we try to pick ourselves up off the floor. Then in one shattering moment of reality, we realize our inner substance has become nothing but shattered glass. Sometimes we are left alone in the dark with the astounding shock of no sound or feeling- just the echo of shattered glass reminding us of who we used to be. We creep into a small crevice of a new reality and try to hide deep within ourselves; only to quickly discover we are only an illusion of what we believe will give us solace, peace and safety. The reality of today’s world is contained in the understanding of one simple truth: There IS no peace-there is no solace-there is no safety. We are left to workout things on our own while we quietly yearn for a relationship that was shattered long ago. This stone-cold reality can be a defining moment for some and a terrifying moment for most. But in the end, we will realize we are just people; alone or together…we are all…just… “People.”
Shattered lives, is the substance of a hearts’ shattered glass. We want the pain to go away but the mourning continues on; when will we become feeling human beings again? When will be we look at the man on the corner with a sign saying “help me” and really care? Most will say: “He will only spend it on alcohol!” then drive quickly away as the terrified face stands immobile in the cold wind. Sadly, we have become mannequins that possess frozen souls and hearts. We have lost the ability to say to ourselves: “What if he really does NOT have any food or water? What if he has no living soul to care if he lives or dies? What if that person is a Veteran that risked his life for me? What if that person is dying of Cancer? What if that person with a sign on the corner, has absolutely no living soul to care for him? Would you STILL drive on and not care? Probably so my friends; and that is a sad, sad state of the human condition called; man. Think about this: What would happen if you drove to the curb, looked him in the face and said: “How may I help you? HOW may I help you?”
Oh dear ones; LOVE is VERY inconvenient and many times it takes a decision to activate. Love isn’t always pleasant; it doesn’t always feel good or smell good or offer anything obvious to the human race in general. Love is often waiting silently in the wings of life behind a self- induced curtain of denial. However, ask yourself this question: Does love always have to have a reason to be defined or valued? Isn’t life itself a good reason to care? Somehow I think the world has de-valued love and the ability to feel. Come on people! You know that emotions are considered weak and frivolous at best. We don’t judge people on love; we judge them on possessions, money and personal power! This reality can be a defining moment for some and a terrifying moment for most, but in the end we will all realize we are just people- we are all the same in construction; just people.
We want the pain to secede, but the mourning continues because we close our eyes, minds, and hearts to what is staring us in the face. We try to ignore the person on the corner with the sign that reads “help me”. We prejudge others without knowing their circumstances and believe that the person asking for assistance will spend it on drugs or alcohol. Our hearts have become frozen and soulless like that of a mannequin that has no heart or soul. We are so enthralled in our own lives that we have lost the ability to feel compassion for others. What if that person with a sign on the corner has absolutely nothing or no one to carry the load that is staggeringly heavy on his weakened back? Will you STILL drive on and not care or will you drive to the curb, look him in the face and reach out your hand to help? Oh dear ones; LOVE is VERY inconvenient and many times it takes a decision to activate. Love isn’t always pleasant and it doesn’t always feel good or smell good or offer anything obvious to the human race in general. Love waits silently in the wings of life behind a self- induced curtain of denial. However, ask yourself this question: Does love always have to have a reason to be defined or valued? Isn’t life itself a good reason to care? Somehow I think the world has de-valued love and the ability to feel. Come on people! You know that emotions are considered weak and frivolous at best. We don’t judge people on love; we judge them on possessions, money and personal power!
When are we going to stop doing the same thing over and over again?
Maybe we should re-evaluate our intellectual perception of love and understand that true emotion is real human power! Consider this: If you walk past the man with the box in the street, are you powerful…or are you cold and dead? I am sure I would be considered an idiot most of the time- I would help anyone- I would pick up every stray in the street and hold it close
to my heart. I would take on every lost family with no home or bed. I would clothe the hungry and the lost and would give my last dollar to feed a hungry child. Does that make me an idiot? Probably; by today’s standards! I would probably be called an “enabler” or just plain stupid. I realize I cannot save the world, but that realization does not stop the process of caring. Who has the right to call my heart stupid? Someday you will all have to ask yourselves who made that heart of yours? If there truly is a God and He is responsible for your creation, then who is to determine the limits of love that He has created in your heart? Here is another interesting contemplation: If there is a God and He created you, then He created your heart and made that heart a receptacle to hold limitless amounts of compassion and love. If you are thinking about YOUR needs first, then you are not validating the needs of others.
If you are thinking about your needs first and feel this is a journey on “finding” yourself, then my friend, you have LOST yourself: You are not validating creation itself. Consider this hypothesis for a moment: If creation IS love, then the creation of your heart could have no boundaries that could be created by man or society. “Heart” is NOT an acquired syndrome or a lesson learned in school. Heart is a God given gift that is meant to be shared with all humanity. Love does not have the capacity to discern prejudice or hatred. Love cannot fathom the possibility of no compassion or caring. Love is a free gift to all who have the discernment to recognize it and hold it close to their hearts. Love has NO qualifications-it only knows how to reach out and help the broken hearted and the lost. But that love is not contained in a small bottle on a shelf. It is meant to be spread into the air that all of us breathe to live: Love is life itself and life is ultimately the greatest gift to use to the fullest measure of human understanding.
I hope and pray we can all strip away the layers of lies that have been fed into our innocent spirits. After all, our spirits are what make us who we are; to kill a spirit ultimately leads to death and is against who God made us to be. Please dear ones, look beyond your own needs and look to the ones who have no voice, who have no hope and who have no future: THOSE are the people we need to reach and touch.
I promise you one thing: The people you lift up to higher round are the ones who will give you a greater and richer life. Those are the huge people who will make your life great; those are the people who will take you to higher ground and help you reform the image staring back at you in the mirror. When you leave your comfort zone and reach out to the broken hearted and the lost, you will find those very people will mend the shattered glass of your inner soul and lead you to greatness once again. Never give up on love, never turn your back on second chances and always- always reach out your hand to a person who doesn’t even realize he HAS a hand!
Love people- LOVE!! That self-less love will heal a wounded world and heal the shattered glass that is hidden within our aching hearts. Love never fails my friends- love never dies and LOVE will always carry us through life’s darkest storms.
For it is in the middle of the storm we will find love’s silence that will gently speak to us as it carries us to a place hidden deep inside of our consciousness. It is there we will find peace and true power. It is there we will learn to dwell IN love and it is there we will begin to know we ARE love.
