I have had many discussions with my husband about how my spiritual journey affects my everyday life. He wants to believe it really doesn’t have a huge difference, but recent events in the world and in my own life make me think differently.
I want to go on the world view first. Israel is at war with Hamas. People are dying on both sides. It isn’t my place to say who is right or wrong. I don’t even know if there is a place where right or wrong exists when babies are being murdered. Yet, I do see something that has been occurring since the beginning of humankind. One person hurts someone else and so they retaliate with more violence and then this cycle of violence continues and escalates in greater and greater violence and atrocities in the name of religion or government or whatever. Innocent people suffer and die. God doesn’t teach us this behavior. This behavior isn’t in our true nature. When my brother or sister hurts me, I need to show them understanding, forgiveness, and love. That is the only way to find peace. That’s what my spiritual journey has taught me.
On a smaller scale, today my husband and I were driving, and a huge truck drove right in front of our car causing my husband to slow down to avoid hitting him. My husband felt irritated with the driver’s lack of thoughtfulness. Anyone would be. As we were driving away. I thought to myself about the driver.
That person will never know me. They will never even give me a second’s thought. Yet, I know that they are a child of God and God commands that I love them as I would myself. I know that I have messed up driving. I have been thoughtless and cut people off. And so I thought about how I should love this person just a little bit not in spite of their bad driving, but because of their bad driving. Their bad driving is something that connects them to me. We all have had that experience were we were in a rush, zone out, just weren’t paying attention. We were having a bad day and just not in the moment because our thoughts were filled with other things. I know what it is like. Maybe the driver was being self-centered, who knows? But I know what it is like to experience life just like them. So, I pray for them to have safe travels because they are on a similar journey just like me. They aren’t the enemy; they truly are my sibling and I love them.
My faith saved me. May God’s peace reside in all of our hearts.
