Imagine that, no grudges, no harsh feelings of resentment, no longing for revenge or making someone pay for hurting you. Imagine. While I write, I work out my own feelings, dear reader. I pray you do the same.
When the planned event that took place in 2020 started, and carried on for years, to the point of painting the world puke green, I tried to stay connected, keep my people close, let them know that I loved them, I longed for them, and wanted them in my life, without fear. In fact, I said to one of my very best friends, If it isn't fear, what is it then? What reason could she give for the extreme measures she was taking to stay "safe", that she persistently insisted others take on too? She did not have a reply for this query, and it saddens me greatly in this moment to recall how much we had shared, how much I loved her, and how willing she was to keep me at bay, as a possible plague and death threat. You see dear reader, how a perceived leper is a terror to others that cling to what they know, cling to this life, and what it has to offer?
A friend asked me recently if there was a possibility of reconciling with people that walked away from relationship with me during the mock-deadly-outbreak. I said, There would have to be a lot of apologies. What I didn't tell her, because our time together had run out, was that if they could keep me out of their homes to save themselves just a few years ago, when I was perfectly healthy and no where near a threat to them - except for of course, challenging their world view - than I am confident that if the same circumstances oddly arose, and if I needed them for any serious reasons, they would bar their doors to me and yell, LEPER, LEPER, stay AWAY. If they aren't sorry, then they haven't reconciled with the truth, and I would not be welcome under any/all, circumstances. Why, oh why, would I want unreliable yellow bellied self-absorbed, self-serving unrepentant people in my life? How in the name of heaven and what is holy on earth, would that serve me?
If I sound resentful, you will forgive me, dear reader. I have lost a lot over the years, in the way of people I loved. Resentment is a thin cover for sadness, at least it is for me. I resent having been stolen from. I resent people being duped and not coming to terms with the impact of their choices, and it having ruined what was sweet, and pure, and lovely beyond words. I miss what was, and must accept what is ... and sometimes it makes me a little ... crusty!
Let us move on from here, to what I wanted to share when this blog began formulating in my mind this morning. I will quote below (with some additions) from Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible, page 532. In the following paragraphs, there is natural sentiment for heavenly promises to be fulfilled after a life of delight mingled with sorrow, followed by a formula of compassion. If only we would love one another to the point of feeling their pain, dear one, then we would love our neighbour as ourselves, and by doing so, show ourselves to be loving toward the God that created all. Here we go, into the thoughts of a brilliant man of God.
The longer life is the more grievous will its burdens be Ecclesiastics 12:1 Remember now thy Creator in the days of thy youth, while the evil days come not, nor the years draw nigh, when thou shalt say, I have no pleasure in them, and the longer life is the less pleasant will be its delights 2 Sa 19; 34; 35 And Barzillai said unto the king, How long have I to live, that I should go up with the king into Jerusalem? I am this day fourscore years old: and can I discern between good and evil? can thy servant taste what I eat or what I drink? can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my lord the king? We have already seen the best of this world, but we are not sure that we have seen the worst of it.
We have already seen the best of this world, but we are not sure that we have seen the worst of it. Dear reader, this is what every discerning human that sees into the spiritual realm senses. We know what we have lost, and we anticipate the effects of evil coming from all directions in our near future. The devil ain't done, is what we know to be true. The threat is imminent, significant, and real.
What are we to do, for those that do not see what we see, know what we know: the ones that reject truth wholesale, and reject relationship with honesty, that do not see the plight they are in? I have compassion for the lost, I sympathize with those that are in pain. What the masses did, when they turned away from those that made up their own minds, at the expense of being part of the "in" crowd, was the opposite of what I am going to share, taken from Matthew Henry's Commentary on the book of Job. While I want none to suffer the consequences that currently are befalling those that went along with a wicked plan, I also want them to come to terms with what they have done, the impact they had, on the people that confidently warned that autonomy was being tampered with, and that freedom was being infringed upon, to the detriment of humanity en masse. In other words, I would like consciences pricked to the point of minds and hearts being harassed until they wish for a way to reconcile with others ... peace be with us is the hope.
Here is a formula I hope is helpful and instructive moving forward, again, lifted from the pages of Matthew Henry's Commentary On The Whole Bible, with slight liberties taken on my part in the presentation:
Compassion is a debt owing to those that are in affliction. Those that are at ease can see pain and anguish and can pity them and:
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