"Cooperation with others.
Perception, experience, tenacity.
Know when to lead and when to follow."
I often ponder the Bible verse I chose for today, wondering if we don't all have times when we are the least--or at least feel that way--and times when we are the greatest--or, again, just feel that way. I've written before about what a challenge it must be to recognize and yet still grow in one's own humility.
It's an appropriate one, too, I think, for a day like today--Memorial Day, also the day on which I chose to cast my vote on a Vote-By-Mail ballot, which I usually do for accessibility reasons. This election has caused so much discord and upheaval, with so many people refusing to vote one way or the other, apparently, that I've told most of my friends we just might find ourselves with the political equivalent of a hung jury.
To those who don't vote, claiming their conscience and proclaiming Spurgeon's ideal: "Of two evils, choose neither," I can only say: How quick we are to define and decide evil when we perceive it outside ourselves. Yet when we look within, how many of us find someone who--as President Johnson did when confronted with Viet Nam War protesters chanting, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"--hides out with the covers pulled up over his head, crying, "I don't understand these young people; don't they know I'm just one of them?"
It would seem that God alone knows the least from the greatest, or can separate the wheat from the chaff. Some of us believe we are great; others of us believe we could only ever be small. I know only that as I strive to follow His commandments, my own desire to make such a distinction lessens. If I know right from wrong in action, I can see the best in each person, and try to see them as He does. That's all I ever want to do in every situation.
Perception, experience, tenacity.
Know when to lead and when to follow."
I often ponder the Bible verse I chose for today, wondering if we don't all have times when we are the least--or at least feel that way--and times when we are the greatest--or, again, just feel that way. I've written before about what a challenge it must be to recognize and yet still grow in one's own humility.
It's an appropriate one, too, I think, for a day like today--Memorial Day, also the day on which I chose to cast my vote on a Vote-By-Mail ballot, which I usually do for accessibility reasons. This election has caused so much discord and upheaval, with so many people refusing to vote one way or the other, apparently, that I've told most of my friends we just might find ourselves with the political equivalent of a hung jury.
To those who don't vote, claiming their conscience and proclaiming Spurgeon's ideal: "Of two evils, choose neither," I can only say: How quick we are to define and decide evil when we perceive it outside ourselves. Yet when we look within, how many of us find someone who--as President Johnson did when confronted with Viet Nam War protesters chanting, "Hey, hey, LBJ, how many kids did you kill today?"--hides out with the covers pulled up over his head, crying, "I don't understand these young people; don't they know I'm just one of them?"
It would seem that God alone knows the least from the greatest, or can separate the wheat from the chaff. Some of us believe we are great; others of us believe we could only ever be small. I know only that as I strive to follow His commandments, my own desire to make such a distinction lessens. If I know right from wrong in action, I can see the best in each person, and try to see them as He does. That's all I ever want to do in every situation.
No comments:
Post a Comment