Focus! All you need is love! Really!

Prayer for the Day

“Jesus, I love you. I give my life to you, not as a slave dedicates himself to his master but as someone who opens his heart to a friend. Help me to see myself through your eyes.”

Reflection

It’s the Memorial Day holiday this weekend.  At my job, that means it is one of the busiest—and one of the most stress filled—weekends of the year (Independence Day and Labor Day are the other 2 ‘biggies’).  Every year, we are asked to do the “impossible”.  I say “asked”.  Actually, the impossible is expected, if we want to stay in business!  And every year, it seems, we succeed.  In the beginning, it’s our own mindset that tells us it’s impossible.  We succeed because we just do it “by the numbers”.  Unfortunately, sometimes we get so focused on following ‘the numbers’ we forget why we were given the policies and procedures in the first place—to make us successful.  If something appears to be in the way of our success, we have the ability to call for help in thinking through the problem.  Someone is always standing by to help us remember our primary service objective.

My immediate supervisor also happens to be my best friend, someone I can speak to plainly about my frustrations and concerns, so that makes it even easier to get back on track when I get lost. The friendship we share is the single biggest reason I get through this stress—Todd is one of those individuals who makes work “fun”.  We have found out so many times that it’s better to just get out of the way and let whatever is going to happen, happen—as long as we follow the rules.  And if someone isn’t helped in the manner they should have been in the first place, we’ll make it right.  I joke about this every busy holiday weekend.  “It’s one of the ‘Ten Commandments’ of U-Haul”, I’ll say, “Thou shalt not say ‘No’ to a customer!” (Even if logic tells you that you ought to).

Speaking of commandments, God gave us ten of them through Moses.  The first thing we need to understand about a commandment is that it is possible to do. It may seem impossible, but it is possible.  The second thing we need to understand is that a commandment comes from one in authority, one who has the power to see it through and make it happen.

Maybe the reason we have so much trouble following the Ten Commandments is because we get lost; there are ‘too many rules’ to remember.  Thanks to Jesus, He broke them down to Two (although he didn’t abolish the Ten, he simply ‘condensed’ them)—to love God with our whole heart, mind, soul and strength and to "Love one another as I love you." (John 15)  Remember, if it is a commandment, then it is possible.  And it comes from the One in authority, the One who has the power to see it through and to make it happen.

Nothing happens without God's help. If God tells us to love one another as He loves us, then He stands by ready to make it happen. Loving is not as hard as it might seem. All we need to do is let God love through us by the grace of the Holy Spirit.  In other words, we need to get out of the way. We need to take all of our dislikes, prejudices, notions, and ideas and put them aside. We need to let Jesus be present in us for others.

Next time you are faced with a situation in which love is called for but is too hard for you - step out of the way and ask Jesus to come in and do the loving.  Let Jesus within you be a light for this person whom you find it hard to love. With God, all things are possible. You'll find as well that you will be able to give this person exactly what they need to lead them to the same light and joy.

Like the light from the Easter Candle at Easter vigil, the solitary flame will spread throughout the darkness and make of it a beautiful light. One person at a time, we illuminate the world when we allow God's love to shine through us. Let's make it our first priority - to light today one candle, one life, one more person to share the light.