"...As We All Are Part Of Each Other."

"With my intellect I see cause for nothing but pessimism and even despair. But I can't settle for what my intellect tells me. That's not all of it. There are still stars which move in ordered and beautiful rhythm. There are still people in this world who keep promises..."
~ A Wind In The Door,
by Madeleine L'Engle

Pardon me, whilst I meander.

It's a thing I've noticed lately, how far apart we all seem from each other. I do not mean physically, but in our souls, in our zeal for identity through defining ideals, in our desire to put our own convictions above anyone else's, we've all lost touch with our fellow man. It seems to me that society on the whole has been pushing harder and harder to make us not only disagree with anyone who's ideas are different than our own, but also to disdain them. It's not enough to dislike someone with right-wing ideals, they have to seem crazy. It's not enough to disagree with a tree-hugging hippy liberal, they must be demonized, else you will not feel safe. It's frankly quiet wearying, the whole lot of you.

Of course, we all fall victim to this thinking. But it is not how the world is supposed to be. Should you stand for something? Of course, everyone should, everyone should look in their heart, or to their God, and find who they are. Find what is important to them, what is worth standing up for, as it defines you yourself in the end. But ideas and convictions should never be more important than your fellow man. Your firm belief should never be one that gives you leave to dismiss a fellow human being. You can disagree with someone. You can have lively debate. But my Lord, the sea of hatred that boils back home in my own country...I get frustrated. And then I am just sad, really sad.

I will tell you a story.When I was a little girl, I attended a church that, from good intentions and innocent beginnings, became something Different. I won't go into the details, but suffice it to say, the change was slow and subtle, until it came to a point when, after some disagreements between Godly men, we were urged by our leader to "shun" a certain group who'd left the congregation. My parents of course had none of this drivel, and not too much later we left that community. But before they ever uttered a word in response to this "strong suggestion", my nine-year-old soul rebelled violently. They believed in the same Jesus I did. They believed in the same salvation I believed I had. I grew up believing in God. God is Love. God might tell me not to do certain things that may hurt me, but he'd never tell me to shun anyone, to harbor hate for anyone in my heart. I was only a child, but I KNEW then, and though I can be judgmental too, as all of us can be, I still know that it is poison straight to the heart.

Whether you believe in a deity, an afterlife, or you do not, we can all agree on one thing: When we go, we take only ourselves. Our material possessions will rot and decay, and all that will be left behind was how we treated our fellow man. Did you hide in a church all your life? Did you only surround yourself with people who thought and acted as you did? Did you disdain a church-goer, simply because you didn't believe in God and disliked what you believed religion did to society as a whole? Did you stop going to lunch with your co-worker when you found out she was a lesbian, because heaven forbid you be seen with THAT kind of person? Did you judge the girl who had an abortion? Did you curse out the protester outside the clinic?

All we have is each other. And while everyone should stand by their own convictions, to use your convictions as a license to hate, to avoid, to make snap judgments, is the surest way to aid in the decay of your own soul. Ideas will change and fall away. Countries will rise and fall and rise again. But the only way society will truly end, is when we are all too isolated to even speak to each other. Every single person, on their own little island, in their own little head telling themselves how right they are, and how wrong everyone else is.

Faith, Hope, & Love,
and of these,
The Greatest is Love.

I may be scarce in the days to come,
many loverly things will be going on here at home ;)

But I will try to keep things updated!
Expect a picture or five soon,
of my newly-blue hair.

Until then, I leave you in the good hands
of Heathcliff & Cathy :D




Til Next We Meet,
♥,
~ Amy