Urgency

It is a grey day in California and the ground is wet.  I feel like I back home in Walton on Thames.  The reflective setting, combined with messages and photographs from friends, causes me to reflect on what I really want to say to those in my family.  I wonder if they know how precious they are.  Do they have heart knowledge of the special place they have in my life?  Have I told them as well as demonstrated my belief in who and what they are?
 
There isn’t anything terrible going on in my life, yet another hurricane threatens the lives of friends in far away places.  The risk each faces regularly, moment to moment, day to day, reminds me of life’s fragility.  We are vulnerable.  We potentially face catastrophic events from a personal perspective at any given moment in time.  Our defenses are weak given the potential adversary.  In this context the urgency takes on an even deeper relevance and meaning.
 
Often I fall into a trap of living day to day.  Even the extraordinary doesn’t cause me to pause or reflect.  It wasn’t that different as Jesus faced his disciples after the cross.  They were ready to resume the status quo.  As Jesus surveyed the scene “he took a deep breath and breathed into them.  ‘Receive the Holy Spirit,’ he said.  ‘If you forgive someone's sins, they're gone for good.  If you don't forgive sins, what are you going to do with them?’” (John 20.22, 23) 
 
The last statement is a question I need to remember in each moment.  If I am not willing to give mercy, what is the alternative?  If I am not willing to give compassion, what is the alternative?  If I am not willing to accept people as they are, what is the alternative?  Overarching these questions, if I am not willing to share, communicate, and demonstrate these values, what else is more urgent?
 
Today know you are special, take time to reflect on your role in the lives around you, treasure the sense of belonging.  God loves you.