"Storms"

     It doesn’t take but a glimpse at any news channel to become completely depressed with what is going on around us in the world.  There are those who are living a life of terrorism bring death and destruction to the innocent.  There are political factions that cannot seem to agree on anything.  I’m convinced if one political group were able to come up with a fool proof plan guaranteeing the safety, health, and welfare of all people the other side would vote against it because it wasn’t their idea.  We live among people that are offended by all things on all sides.  In a time that we should be well past accusations of racism those are still being made by people of all colors and nationalities.  This storm of unrest does not reside only within the boundaries of our country but is found throughout the world.  Did you notice a calm in the storm?  For a very short time there was calm.  It occurred with the resent hurricanes.  A true storm of nature brought great destruction to many people.  There were outpourings of all kinds for those who were in need.  Stories of those who risked their lives for the benefit of others.  Money, food, and man power that was given with no thought of receiving in return.  Unfortunately, as things return to normal we return to what seems to be normal for our society, we return to the storms that rage around us every day.  Maybe the answer, in part not the whole, lies in caring for others and thinking less of ourselves.  When I was a child I looked forward to times of gifts at Christmas and birthdays like all children do.  The excitement, the joy of receiving.  Now that I have children and grandchildren of my own, there is nothing that compares with the joy of giving, it far exceeds the joys of receiving.  Christ came to this earth and in so doing gained nothing for himself and gave all for us.  Hebrews chapter two verse nine talks of how he was made lower than the angels that he may taste of death for all men.  When we, like Christ, stop thinking of self and focus on the well-being of others there is no room for what offends me, what I want, and what I think.  We as people pull together and seem to come through in a physical crisis but totally ignore the storms that are fueled by selflessness and hatred that rage all around us.  Be the calm in the storm, when we care for others there is less time for what offends, upsets, or enrages me.