You know what I miss? I miss kindness and respect. I miss people genuinely caring about each other. I miss solidarity and unity in our society. I miss when people could think and believe different things but still show love and compassion for each other. I miss a world where opinions didn’t determine how we treated others. I miss the days when people were held accountable for their actions and choices and took ownership of their lives. I miss the days when responsibility ruled in the hearts of humanity. I miss the days when love for one another was the foundation of society.
Writing this right now, I am having a hard time looking back and finding these qualities within the last 5 or 10 years in our society. Our world is so divided that goodness is hard to find. What was once good is now vilified, and that which was considered evil is now the norm. Humanity is breaking more and more each day. My heart breaks for this world. We have become so blind to our selfishness, narcissism, and conceit. We have allowed the darkness to overtake the light.
I am reminded of the book A Wrinkle In Time by Madeleine L’Engle. In the book, there is a great disturbance within the universe. Beings from beyond our world take three children on a journey to show them the darkness overtaking planets and warn them of their impending doom if nothing changes on their planet. The children learn that this darkness is caused by something called the “It.” “It” controls the minds and hearts of others and doesn’t allow for individuality. “It” is absolute darkness and evil, and the only thing that can stop “It” is the one thing it cannot comprehend: Love.
Our world has lost sight of what love is and what it means. Love is a four-letter word that is thrown around without thought or consideration. Society sees love as a feeling and emotion that comes and goes and means very little to the overall choices one makes. Our world does not know or understand the true meaning of love.
The Apostle Luke shares this story in his gospel:
“On one occasion, an expert in the law stood up to test Jesus. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?” “What is written in the Law?” he replied. “How do you read it?” He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.'” “You have answered correctly,” Jesus replied. “Do this, and you will live.” But he wanted to justify himself, so he asked Jesus, “And who is my neighbor?” In reply, Jesus said: “A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he was attacked by robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him, and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his donkey, brought him to an inn and took care of him. The next day, he took out two denarii and gave them to the innkeeper. ‘Look after him,’ he said, ‘and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.’ “Which of these three do you think was a neighbor to the man who fell into the hands of robbers?” The expert in the law replied, “The one who had mercy on him.” Jesus told him, “Go and do likewise” (Luke 10:25-37)
The story starts with a man asking how to inherit eternal life. Jesus responds with a question about the commandments. “What is written in the Law?” The answer – Love! Love God and love your neighbor. The man then asks, “Who is my neighbor?”. This is a fair question, but Jesus’ response speaks volumes to how we should think and respond.
In Jesus’s days, Samaritans were despised by the Jews. They were considered half-breeds, part Jew, part Gentile. They were not looked on with respect or honor. They were outcasts and treated as such. When Jesus meets the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), the woman even states that Jews did not look favorably on Samaritans, “The Samaritan woman said to him, “You are a Jew, and I am a Samaritan woman. How can you ask me for a drink?” (For Jews do not associate with Samaritans)” (John 4:9).
In Jesus’ parable, we have a man who is beaten to the edge of his life, robbed, and left for dead on the road. A priest, or religious man, saw the dying man and walked around him. Then a Levite man, or a wealthy man, saw the dying man and also went around him. Finally, a Samaritan man, or a lowly commoner who is considered an outcast to many, saw the dying man, bandaged his wounds, put him on his donkey, and took him to an inn to get well. Not only did he do all of this, he paid for the man’s stay at the inn and even offered to repay the innkeeper any extra expense. In the end, Jesus asks the question, “Which of these was a neighbor to the dying man?” The answer – the one who showed mercy. “Go and do likewise!”
You see, Jesus answered the original question, “Who is my neighbor?”, with a call to action! He also called out the Jewish religious leaders for their hypocrisy. The answer is simple: everyone is our neighbor, and it is our job to treat others with mercy. It’s easy to point fingers, push blame, accuse others, and ignore others, but humanity was created to love through action. “He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God” (Micah 6:8). We don’t do this!
It doesn’t matter if you are a Christian, Muslim, Jew, Buddhist, or even an Atheist; the conduct of our lives should be the same – love others, be merciful, and do good to our fellow man. This should be the common ground all religions can agree upon! However, because of the broken state of humanity, the simple act of love has been blinded by pride, arrogance, selfishness, and hate! Oh, what wretched people we have become! We need to change. We need to stop, regroup, refocus, and strive to love our neighbors once again!
This needs to start with each one of us. We must set an example for the next generation. Too many youth are dying, struggling, and hurting because we fail to teach and show love, mercy, and compassion. We must be the change we want to see in the world, and if you can sit back and honestly say that the world doesn’t need to change, I suggest coming out from under the rock you are currently living under. We must hold ourselves to higher expectations. We need to look at ourselves in the mirror and see the areas in our lives that are not showing love and mercy. We need to put away our pride, arrogance, and selfish greed and start taking care of each other. We need to learn how to love our neighbors and make this world a better place for our children and our children’s children. It starts with US!
Selfless Leadership Is Purposeful Leadership 