Love people anyway

Some days are diamonds and some days are coal. We all have some thorns in our sides that we pray God would remove (2 Corinthians 12).

My thorn list is growing and I’m thinking that’s not a positive but they don’t put you on a cross because they like you. I pray for the haters. I pray for God to bless them and I even ask the Lord, how I could be the one to do the good.

How could I be a blessing to the people that if I was not so holy I would be hoping they got the shingles or at least got a bad cold?

I’ve been unfriending, unfollowing and blocking some of these haters on social media like a boss.

I’ve got one friend that will make a preacher cuss, but after a week of shunning, we have shook hands and all is well. I figure I’m going to be doing Heaven with this guy so we might as well learn to get along here. That plus he has a boat and invites me to go fi s h i n g .

My point is life can suck.

Listen, can we talk? I’m ordained, therefore God loves me more than He loves you. I understand why your life might not be that great, but mine? Alright, alright, I’m kidding, sort of—that self-righteous thing can creep up on you and I’m going to repent as soon as I finish typing this column.

Back to my point. “Meaningless, all is meaningless!” The sun comes up and the sun goes down (Ecclesiastes 1:2, 5). That’s what Solomon said, and he knew. He had more money, more power, more experience, more wives (700), more of everything than anyone so we should listen to him.

The grad student (youngest daughter Klaire) FaceTimed us the other day. She called to say she has another boyfriend. I keep telling myself, it’s okay because like the sun coming up and going down, boyfriends come and go for the most part (sometimes they become a son-in-law but then they become an ex-son-in-law).

Friends (especially Facebook friends) come and go, enemies can become friends and sadly friends can become enemies, storms come and go (my week got better, they always do) but God is forever. He is what matters right? Everything else is meaningless.

I think it was Mother Teresa that said, “The good you do today will often be forgotten. Do good anyway. People are often unreasonable, irrational, and self-centered. Forgive them anyway.”

I was reminded by a good friend the other day that as a Christian I live in this place called, “anyway.” I strive to love God and love people (Mark 12:30,31) “anyway,” rain or shine.

He told me to tell you that.