thoughts on compassion.

the current dalai lama wrote a great op-ed for the ny times today called "many faiths, one truth." if you haven't read it, you should. it's about all different faiths, religious intolerance, and compassion.

i was struck by the title and thought it sounded interesting. well, the article was great. and so important in this time when we are all trying to figure out how our faith fits in with the rest of the world. at least, that's something that i struggle with. i find it important that we, as "christians," remember the basis of our faith, which is what i think is love. i mean, god created us in god's image because god loves us, right?

with that, jesus' number one commandment to us was that we love others. love others and love god. i think love translates into compassion as well, especially in the parable of the good samaritan. it was the samaritan that was compassionate towards the hurt person, right?

yes.

the second to last paragraph in this article says it best, i think:

"Finding common ground among faiths can help us bridge needless divides at a time when unified action is more crucial than ever. As a species, we must embrace the oneness of humanity as we face global issues like pandemics, economic crises and ecological disaster. At that scale, our response must be as one."

 oneness is so important. no longer can we stand divided. no longer can democrat or republican separate us. no longer can race define who we sit next to on the bus. and what the dalai lama is saying in this article is that no longer can religion divide who we stand with fighting for justice. as believers, as people created by GOD, no matter what we believe, we must come together and fight for justice and a better world. our world needs us now more than ever before.

amen.

a year in the life.

my macbook is almost one year old! which means it's been a year since i graduated college. crap. i can't believe it's been a year since i've seen most of these awesome people:

i miss all of you, dearly!

i would like to run away. do you care to join me?

where should we go?

http://fc02.deviantart.net/fs32/f/2008/206/3/e/run_away_too_far_away_by_cloud_room.jpg

sometimes, i think god cries.

when you were little did your parents ever tell you that when it rains, it is god crying?

i'm not sure that mine did. i always remembered them telling me that it was angels bowling when there was thunder. i think i made that evolve into the rain being the gingerale from their party. i was a strange child...although some could agree that not much has changed.

anyway. so, it's raining today and i can't help but think about the world. not just our world, but there is so much going on in our country right now, i can totally see how god would be crying.

1. there's a huge oil spill on the gulf coast that could destroy ecosystems. that would affect the entire world.
2. the state of arizona passed a terrible immigration law. it makes me sick.
3. i heard on the radio that 550 people have drowned in an attempt to cross a river trying to get to america. to have a better life. so, someone brought this to the city it is located in, and asked if they could put in buoys or rafts or something.  so that even if they do make it across, they don't die. if they have to send them back, let's do it alive.
4. there were bombs found in a car in times square. so close to me.
5. there is really bad flooding in nashville.
6. all of the people in boston without clean water right now.

that's not the extent of things in our country. those are just the BIG problems.

and then once we look outside the borders of america, wow. i mean, people are starving. there are earthquakes, volcanos, hurricanes, etc. women are being treated unfairly. children are being forced to work for next to nothing.

somewhere, there is a 22 year old female like myself farming, trying to take care of her children, and maybe wondering how she is going to provide dinner for her family. maybe she doesn't know how to read. she's probably never used a computer, and maybe has to keep her face covered simply because of her gender.

and i'm sitting in my air conditioned office with my macbook, drinking dunkin donuts coffee, awaiting a text message from my boyfriend, listening to music that i purchased and thinking how can this be?

where is god in all of this? how can god allow disaster to strike? why is sabitri in india starving?

i don't often listen to christian music, but there's a song called city on our knees by toby mac. i don't love the song, but i love this particular line:

through the fog there is hope in the distance
from cathedrals to third world missions
love will fall to the earth like a crashing wave. 


my prayers lately have been for god to show love to the world, kind of like that "god is love" song i posted a few weeks back.

let's continue praying for justice, peace, mercy, hope, and change.

shalom.