Humanity

As I write this I must constantly remind myself of my humanity. I must accept myself for who I am and hope that each day I become a little better. I must accept that I am a sinner and that each day I must ask for forgiveness. As a creative person I after some deep examination enjoy the synthesis of the varied elements of my life. Each day offers an opportunity to learn something new, to imagine something in a completely different way, to listen to a conversation with a new awareness.

There is no way for me to turn off this gift. One of the first things that I learned in school was that life is repetition; day follows night; winter, spring, summer, autumn. I also learned that simplicity is often more enjoyable than complexity. Life is better unglossed. We are better when we allow ourselves to live lives filled with prayer, hope, humility, charity, mercy and love.

Recently I picked up my Breviary, skimmed through some of the pages. I said the Compline. Afterwards I felt at peace.

There is a part of me that enjoys silence, that enjoys the peculiar atmosphere of walking on a crowded street, noticing other pedestrians, noticing dogs on leashes, noticing bicycles, noticing the homeless man offering to shine shoes, noticing this and so much more, noticing this and saying an incomplete prayer as I continue to my destination. This incomplete prayer is a snap shot, of hope and praise captured by my eyes and heart and offered to God.

I wish that I could say that each time I leave my building that I approach the world this way. I do not. The fragments of my life involves a lot of running around, racing to this event, racing to that restaurant. Often I am only focused on my destination or should I bring wine or did I lock my door.

It is important for me to remember my humanity and try to remember that everyone deserves to be treated with compassion and mercy. Each day we hear stories about all types of contemptuous violence in this world. Somehow we can not escape crime. We can not escape all types of cruelties. We may not be the immediate victim, but we are all victimized by the individual acts and all the thoughts that lead to the acts. How people justify and rationalize all types of evil actions can not be ignored.

We live in a time when our judgement can easily be clouded and confused by omissions, half-truths, and lies. We live in a time where expediency is valued more than anything else. We live in a time where God’s mercy and compassion are needed more than ever.

We must always remember to pray, to ask for God’s guidance.

Humanity often needs and inspires conversation; conversation often needs and inspires silence.

As Christians hopefully, we allow ourselves a little times to examine our daily thoughts and deeds and a little time for prayer and reflection.