We are coming to another holiday season - few weeks away from celebrating the birth of Christ. Every time this comes around I think about Jesus and what he did for us. His teachings were profound.
The main thing that Jesus wanted us to do is follow his lead = he was always kind = he wanted us to be kind to each other - no matter what. Lately, I've seen kindness less and less.
I was in the parking lot on Saturday and there was this woman who said some horribly rude things to me over a shopping cart. I didn't reply to her and just walked away. Afterwards, I thought = she probably goes to church every Sunday = with a mouth like that = treating people like dirt. She wouldn't know kindness if it hit her in the face. I was so tempted to say sarcastically = "Have a blessed day!" = because she was so awful.
I live in the South were there are more churches than fast food restaurants. There is also a lot of poverty, crime, unrest, etc... You would think that with SO MANY religious people in this area that the neighborhoods would be swarming with kind people. You'd be wrong.
I remember when I was young = my godmother was taking me to church. We were running late = which was her fault = she had poor time management skills. On the way to the church she drove like a madman = screaming at people and cursing like a sailor. At church, she prayed like she'd done nothing wrong. All I could think was that she was a terrible representative of Christianity. She wasn't like Jesus at all! Later I saw her and she was this old bitter woman = resentful and hateful. All she had to tell me was that was leaving all her money to the church so that her kids would have nothing when she died - she wanted to punish her kids for not treating her right. She was using the church to hurt her kids. That was wrong on so many levels.
So many people go around wearing religious shirts with Jesus on them but so few of them behave like Jesus. I see people on the corner yelling from the bible and carrying a cross but I don't see them helping the homeless living under the bridge.
It's hard to keep the faith when you see so many religious people behaving so badly = especially at this time of the year.
I continue to pray every day. I am hopeful that Jesus did not save us for nothing.
Take care and try to be kind,
LK
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