Love and Trial

Ever wonder why no matter how hard you try it seems you can never please at least one person in your life.  I pray for those. I can not pretend to know what happens in a person's life when he or she is intentionally rude. Maybe they have been hurt in such a way that they don't know any differently. I don't know I just know that I am ignorant of every person's everyday. I know God knows so I entrust who ever it may be to the Lord's benevolent designs for our lives. I usually experience this form of treatment at work or school. It seems to happen from at least one person. You know who it is when you think about it. They are usually very outspoken (not a bad feature), but lack the understanding of how it feels to be talked to the way that they do to others. Or they lack the understanding of another person's position on things or even worse they not only lack it, but intentionally persecute without any regard or care as to why someone thinks or says or believes the way one does.

Society talks about tolerance, but what society really means is to tolerate something as long as everyone is in agreement. Usually this means "I tolerate all religions and all walks of life...but those Christians are just crazy homophobes who just hate everyone." (That is what I have really heard before.) Means little sense to a Christian since every person is created in the beautiful image of almighty God. Even those who society considers evil and unfit to even live. You've heard that before when people start talking about terrorism. When was the last time you have heard the words:

"Ok everyone today we are going to do what Jesus asked us to do and pray for our enemies and love those who persecute us. Pray for Osama bin Laden, James Holmes, Saddam Hussein, the followers of what is left of the Nazi party, those who fight and kill even those that we love and today we will make the effort to pull the veils from our eyes and realize that God even loved them beyond what our imagination can comprehend. Yes even them! We will love them the same with perfect love as God does for us since we all are unworthy and fall short of the pure and perfect love of God."

I do admit if someone murdered my entire family I can not imagine the pain, but God does not place us anywhere where His grace will not sustain us. Yes even for those who do evil things and even if those same people show no sign of remorse or repentance we must love as He does to enter the kingdom of God. It is done even today. Immaculee Ilibigiza is a good example in her book, "Left To Tell." She tells of her experience during a holocaust in 1994. It reminds me of Christ on the cross calling to His father, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." What greater love is there than this than to die for friends. Even for those who endorse our deaths. You never know if in your life or at your death that you may find a Saint Paul before a Saint Stephen.