Others

I felt strongly that this needed a repost…
Don’t let Base things steal your joy.

“Is there any encouragement from belonging to Christ? Any comfort from His love? Any fellowship together in the Spirit? Are your hearts tender and compassionate? Then make me truly happy by agreeing wholeheartedly with each other, loving one another, and working together with one mind and purpose. Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. BE HUMBLE, THINKING OF OTHERS AS BETTER THAN YOURSELVES…have the same attitude that Jesus had… He humbled himself in obedience to God…God is working in you, giving you the desire and the power to do what pleases him.” Philippians 2:1-13

I was having a great day!

A day filled with Dad.

Driving into my neighborhood, I passed a house that I had always admired. I love the ‘purposeful wildness’ that I see in their landscape. Each time I pass I see something different. Someone has spent a lot of time planning, planting and tending to this magnificent canvas of divinely created colors and textures.

Once again, I was being filled by the beauty when I saw IT.

The sight literally took my breath away.

How could the same people who created and tended to this magnificent beauty allow this blight, this horror to exist on the same ground?

This wasn’t a mistake.

This wasn’t a gum wrapper accidentally blown into the beauty.

No, this was intentionally placed to gather the biggest “bang for the buck”.

Its very existence offended me to my core (no exaggeration here…I was truly offended).

I was revulsed.

A political sign had entered ‘the garden’.

Not just any sign but, one calling attention to a politician who I find to be particularly unsavory … like flatulence on an airplane, I could have done without ever experiencing this person again.

I was stunned. And then, as I drove on, I was hit with the second of the “one-two punches”. Just in case you missed the first sign, there was a twin at the other corner of the property.

No joke, the next time I was leaving the neighborhood I literally took another route so as not to see these signs!

And here they were invading one of the most beautiful spots in my neighborhood!

And just like that my opinion of my neighbors changed. Until this moment, I had admired them. And now, because of the person for whom they choose to vote, I was not only disgusted but, everything about my view of them changed.

I am embarrassed by my reaction, so I am not going to share the exact words that leapt into my mind. Needless to say, they were less than encouraging.

And, my joy was stolen. No, I gave my joy’s place away to an invader.

Why?

Because I allowed the mundane, the ugly to take the place previously held by joy.

Don’t let mundane things that will soon be gone take the spot reserved for your joy.

You have been prayed for today