"Bless me , Father, for I have sinned"....no, I'm not making a public confession here. That's just an opening to the content I want to write about. Here is where this thought originated:
If you know me, you know that I don't experience loss very well. As we build our lives in younger years, we accumulate. We gain friendships, experience, knowledge, income, possessions; and we grow in love for significant persons. We find our way, stumble a little, but generally make PROGRESS. But, as we age, we lose parts of what we build. General principles of life here...and I have no regrets, for if I made mistakes along the way, I gained knowledge and experience. The knowledge may be "Don't do that again!"
Back to loss. And mind you, this is just an editorial piece. I don't want to change anyone's beliefs or standards. But, it's my perception that over a period of a few years, there has been a direct opposition to "Christian belief" and a general consenus of thinking that we are right and everyone else is wrong. Is it right for a group of people to have their "inalienable rights" condemned? Is it right to turn away from someone in need, just because they didn't have the same opportunities as us, or because there was no one to guide them in a certain way? Is it right to shun another human being because they sinned? For all our Sunday morning teachings of tolerance and lending a helping hand, we sure as rain do not practice those teachings.
We are hateful and do not try to understand another belief, idea, or practice. We do not respect our leaders, and we only see how things will affect self. There is something greater in all of us than there is in any one of us.
Why is it that one person cannot accept the other for having a different viewpoint or philosophy? We don't have to agree on everything, but goodness, let there be understanding and acceptance of those differences.
We're never going to get out of the muck, and we will never live our earthly lives in the warmth of our Creator's intentions for us as long as we fail in tolerance, acceptance, love, honor, and respect for every human being on this Earth.
That is the greatest loss.
