WOW! Today is July 5th already... time does fly... and I think that is the biggest challenge for me in remembering to live love. Time just seems to go by so fast, and there is so much to do, it is easy sometimes to forget how small acts of love... and an attitude of love can make a big difference. Like this morning, I was feeling rushed to get things moving, but my daughter was being really pokey about getting her hair combed up into ponytails... it would have been so easy to ram that brush through her hair and tug the ponytails up into place, and make her day start off wrong too... so glad I remembered to live love and took my time. Already, I am noticing that living love is helping me to slow down, be more patient, and more caring towards others. It is forcing me to step outside of my own head, my own inner world, and to think outside of myself.
This past weekend we celebrated Canada Day by spending a weekend camping up at a small lake north of Huntsville. It was lovely. And it made me think of a whole new area of love that I had never really considered before... and that was love for my country... my nation... and on another level, for my environment. I couldn't help but wonder, in our every increasing global culture, what will happen to patriotism and nationalism? While I firmly believe that globalization has some wonderful things to contribute to our daily lives.... It made me wonder... how do we make choices that demonstrate our love for our own communities, and also for others all around the world? How big can love grow?? Can we really learn to love the whole world? I'm sure it starts by learning to love our neighbour next door. Even when your neighbours have door mats that say "Go Away"....
Ideally, by creating a community that lives love, we will have a reaching impact around the world... cool!! Think of the stone thrown into a pond and the ripples that spread to the outer edges of the water...I wonder what ripples this stone will create.
Living love one day at a time....
2 comments:
I too have been contemplating what it means to love our neighbors in our global community.
We all love it in my house when Daddy does the grocery shopping. The kids get to choose a couple of boxes of sugar cereal... and I get to avoid the supermarket check-out with four small children in tow.
Right now our pantry contains glorious candy coated Frosted Flakes (decked out in a box offering a free tee shirt), the classic staple for us Rice Crispies, good old reliable Raisin Bran, Cheerios (the baby's joy),...and a humble-maybe you could even call it homely bag of oatmeal.
Upon opening the pantry door, my kids usually start jumping up and down chanting, "we want frosted flakes!"--Tony the tiger would be proud. One bowl is rarely enough when they devour this sugary treat.
My baby, however, still lacks the ability to choose for herself. I open the pantry and am not wooed by Tony''s coye marketing scheme. The sweet treat that will soon turn sour to me when I deal with sugar high children for the remainder of the morning. I personally go for the plain jane oatmeal for my precious little girl, knowing that simpler is healthier and nutrition is a wise chose.
In my search to live love today, I am trying to break the bonds of consumerism that complicate my life and rob my wealth. I am becoming acuetly aware that the gap between the rich and poor is widening, and I wish I had given my few dollars to a charity that feeds to poor instead of Tony the Tiger.
A quote I heard during a sermon has been haunting my mind since january--"Live simply, so others can simply live."
I have always been a bit girly, girly, and liked pretty things. I have enjoyed keeping up with trends and accessories. Lately, however, I find myself being very attracted to the simpler things in life, and the humble heart that puts others above themselves.
Canada is blessed. i crave health for the word as God teaches me what is means when He says... Love your neighbor as yourself.
I am trying to put my decisions under serious scrupolation to see how i might be falling under the marketer spell, that I need all these luxuries in life in order to be happy and great. I think I would rather be great for sharing with the poor, and would rather experience the true joy of giving to others, instead of hoarding for myself.
Today, in the spirit of live love today... today I choose to not to eat out at Tim Hortons and be tempted by those ingenious telepromters and give my money to a sponsored child in haiti instead!
Emily is there a way to edit our comments? I noticed a few errors after I posted.
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