Refugee Crisis
Several years ago I wrote a blog called Wheat or Weeds. I traversed down a road that we all travel at various stages of life. In our not so humble attempt to be wheat all to often we turn out to be a weed, the problem is that we never realize it. In a discussion after I wrote the blog someone informed me that weeds have flowers too. That is true, they in fact do, and that is what brings me to my blog today.
It is so easy for others to mistake our intentions. We may be trying diligently to be loving, kind, and generous yet the way our actions are received are just the opposite. There is an old saying that goes like this, "what you say isn't always what the other person hears". In our best effort to be good it is hard to imagine that we can in fact be evil. The word evil may be an exaggeration but you understand what I am talking about. Let's dive into the human side of wheat or weed and good verses evil.
Five years ago I spoke to a very nice lady that informed me that she had finally met the love of her life. The connection she and her man friend had was a gift from heaven. She felt that God was somehow rewarding her difficult life with something that she could view as loving and good. The problem was that she was married as was the gentleman friend. What ever the state of the marriage was became insignificant because they had convinced themselves that this wonderful union was inspired and blessed by God. I am certainly not one to judge beings that I have a few skeletons in my own closet. I simply listened with the intent to understand not reply. I encouraged her to seek whatever help she needed to understand the difficulties that lied ahead. She knew that families would be disrupted, bitterness would ensue and relationships would be forever damaged. Yet still somehow, someway she still felt this was a blessing from God. Was this good or evil?
Please do not get caught up in that story and reach your own judgmental conclusions. We all face life circumstances to where we put into question the ethical and moral fiber entwined into our heart and soul. This lady under any other situation would view actions as hers as evil, but beings that it was happening to her she only saw the good. Once again I do not stand here in judgment, I am sharing a story. Many life stories could be put into this blog I just chose to use that one.
Every day we face circumstances to where the outcome could be perceived by others as good or evil. We see it one way, they see it another. I decided to step back for this writing, let go of my formed conscience and see life from a different angle. What if every action has an equal and opposite effect on someone else. We think we are acting good yet to some recipients of our actions we are extremely evil. Consider the current refugee situation. The propaganda associated with it makes it near impossible to know the truth. What we do know is that 1000's of families are fleeing war torn countries in an effort to start a new life for themselves and their families. The question for us as humanitarians is how do we receive this perceived evil they are trying to escape. Many think we should welcome them and help them acclimate into new phases of life hopefully becoming contributing members of society. Others think the threat of terrorism in and of itself warrants locking them out to protect our own interest. Both see their actions as good, yet the truth is they both are laced with evil. Imagine if we closed out the person that would finally develop the cure for cancer? What if we did not allow the person in that had the ability to unite people in such a way that brought peace and love back to the world? On the other hand what if we allowed in a terrorist that killed many of friends and family? Which action is good and which is evil?
A gift should be received in the manner in which it is given. Which means, when we give from the heart it should easily be viewed by giver and receiver as good. If the gift has any malicious intent then it is bad even if the receiving party isn't aware. Life is very complex yet so basically simple. Good will always be stronger than evil, yet with the proliferation of social media and instant news the lines of wheat or weed have become blurred. There was a time that good or evil was a clear distinction. Not so anymore. Even churches have their own agendas that they may think is good but the end result is bad.
Certainly we can use many analogies of good verses evil or wheat and weeds. My hope for writing this is to help you understand that sometimes great things come from what we perceive to be evil. Conversely there are also occasions to where terrible things arise from what we thought to be good. Never judge someone's life story by the chapter you walked in on. Also just because you have made poor decisions in life that doesn't mean you are an evil person, it should mean that you are well equipped to make great decisions going forward that will have a positive impact on your life and those around you. Let's not get caught up in judging the actions of others, let's instead focus on what we can do to grow our lives in new and exciting directions. We will all be weeds at various points in life and yes just like the gentleman told me one time, even weeds produce flowers. I no longer worry about whether I am a wheat or weed I simply look for the flower to bloom and in that beauty I will grow into a better being. You are not evil, you are human, your conscience is being formed by what you allow into your space. Change what goes into your mind and you change your life. Focus your attention on the positive lessons of the perceived evil and through that you will find a level of good you never knew existed. You are and always will be God's greatest miracle, it just up to you to receive the gift in the manner in which it was given.
peace be with you
Dale
It is so easy for others to mistake our intentions. We may be trying diligently to be loving, kind, and generous yet the way our actions are received are just the opposite. There is an old saying that goes like this, "what you say isn't always what the other person hears". In our best effort to be good it is hard to imagine that we can in fact be evil. The word evil may be an exaggeration but you understand what I am talking about. Let's dive into the human side of wheat or weed and good verses evil.
Five years ago I spoke to a very nice lady that informed me that she had finally met the love of her life. The connection she and her man friend had was a gift from heaven. She felt that God was somehow rewarding her difficult life with something that she could view as loving and good. The problem was that she was married as was the gentleman friend. What ever the state of the marriage was became insignificant because they had convinced themselves that this wonderful union was inspired and blessed by God. I am certainly not one to judge beings that I have a few skeletons in my own closet. I simply listened with the intent to understand not reply. I encouraged her to seek whatever help she needed to understand the difficulties that lied ahead. She knew that families would be disrupted, bitterness would ensue and relationships would be forever damaged. Yet still somehow, someway she still felt this was a blessing from God. Was this good or evil?
Please do not get caught up in that story and reach your own judgmental conclusions. We all face life circumstances to where we put into question the ethical and moral fiber entwined into our heart and soul. This lady under any other situation would view actions as hers as evil, but beings that it was happening to her she only saw the good. Once again I do not stand here in judgment, I am sharing a story. Many life stories could be put into this blog I just chose to use that one.
Every day we face circumstances to where the outcome could be perceived by others as good or evil. We see it one way, they see it another. I decided to step back for this writing, let go of my formed conscience and see life from a different angle. What if every action has an equal and opposite effect on someone else. We think we are acting good yet to some recipients of our actions we are extremely evil. Consider the current refugee situation. The propaganda associated with it makes it near impossible to know the truth. What we do know is that 1000's of families are fleeing war torn countries in an effort to start a new life for themselves and their families. The question for us as humanitarians is how do we receive this perceived evil they are trying to escape. Many think we should welcome them and help them acclimate into new phases of life hopefully becoming contributing members of society. Others think the threat of terrorism in and of itself warrants locking them out to protect our own interest. Both see their actions as good, yet the truth is they both are laced with evil. Imagine if we closed out the person that would finally develop the cure for cancer? What if we did not allow the person in that had the ability to unite people in such a way that brought peace and love back to the world? On the other hand what if we allowed in a terrorist that killed many of friends and family? Which action is good and which is evil?
A gift should be received in the manner in which it is given. Which means, when we give from the heart it should easily be viewed by giver and receiver as good. If the gift has any malicious intent then it is bad even if the receiving party isn't aware. Life is very complex yet so basically simple. Good will always be stronger than evil, yet with the proliferation of social media and instant news the lines of wheat or weed have become blurred. There was a time that good or evil was a clear distinction. Not so anymore. Even churches have their own agendas that they may think is good but the end result is bad.
Certainly we can use many analogies of good verses evil or wheat and weeds. My hope for writing this is to help you understand that sometimes great things come from what we perceive to be evil. Conversely there are also occasions to where terrible things arise from what we thought to be good. Never judge someone's life story by the chapter you walked in on. Also just because you have made poor decisions in life that doesn't mean you are an evil person, it should mean that you are well equipped to make great decisions going forward that will have a positive impact on your life and those around you. Let's not get caught up in judging the actions of others, let's instead focus on what we can do to grow our lives in new and exciting directions. We will all be weeds at various points in life and yes just like the gentleman told me one time, even weeds produce flowers. I no longer worry about whether I am a wheat or weed I simply look for the flower to bloom and in that beauty I will grow into a better being. You are not evil, you are human, your conscience is being formed by what you allow into your space. Change what goes into your mind and you change your life. Focus your attention on the positive lessons of the perceived evil and through that you will find a level of good you never knew existed. You are and always will be God's greatest miracle, it just up to you to receive the gift in the manner in which it was given.
peace be with you
Dale
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