Living out Love - Think about it!

It's been a hard week for many, personally and/or nationally, or both.  Covid continues to rage in Arkansas and across the nation.  Two friends of mine have been diagnosed this week and are so far, doing ok, thankfully.  Our country has reached 369,000 (+) deaths as of this writing.  I know some people doubt the reported numbers, as deaths from accidents or other disease may have been reported as Covid, because the person tested positive, but would have died regardless.  I can't rebut that, but even if 10% have been inaccurate, that's still more than 330K+ deaths in 10 months.  It's hard to argue that's not an out of control Pandemic.

Then, we had the events in Washington, DC on Wednesday, January 6 when some of the "protestors"  chose to storm into the Capitol and do damage to persons and property. So far, five people have died.  I assume most, if not all, of you reading this think the actions on Wednesday were unconscionable, especially the violence.  I'm not here to debate how or why it happened, but just laying a groundwork for the intention of this post.

I believe the only way through this time of trouble is to love our neighbors in word and deed, or at least to respect or tolerate them without judging because of their political or religious beliefs, color of their skin, their age, etc.  Each of us has our personal beliefs or situations and that doesn't make us right or wrong, in most cases.  I am a follower of Jesus, but not everyone is and I cannot force anyone into that relationship.  I know that people of other faiths (or even no faith) can also love and support each other. 

Because we need to consider how to love and live it out, here are some questions for you as we begin a new week:

• How have you loved someone this week in word and/or deed?  
• How has someone loved/encouraged you or how have you observed them loving on another?
• How do you plan to love/encourage someone else in word and/or deed in the upcoming weeks?

I hope thinking about these questions will remind us how to make our lives the best they can be, as individuals, members of groups and as citizens of our countries. If you're inspired to share your thoughts, feel free, as I always appreciate inspiration! Let's all work to be our best selves for the good of all!

 💙