FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022, SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS - DIGNITY

 FRIDAY, MARCH 11, 2022, SPIRITUAL THOUGHTS - DIGNITY

DIGNITY

“Today, think upon the dignity of each and every person.  Try to call to mind anyone you may fail to look at with perfect respect.  Who is it you look down upon and roll your eyes at?  Is it a person?  (Putin?) Is it a felon/serial killer? Who is it you judge or disdain?  It is within this person, more than any other, that Jesus waits for you.  He waits to meet you and to have you love Him in the weak and the sinner.  Reflect upon their dignity.  Identify the person who fits this description the most in your life and commit yourself to love and serve them.  For in them you will love and serve our Lord.

“I can only love God as much as the person I love the least” (You know, that is tough to do).

Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If anyone strikes you on one cheek, offer him the other cheek as well, and should someone take your cloak, let him have your tunic as well.  Give to everyone who begs from you, and do not demand the return of what is yours from the one who has taken it.

“Deal with others as you would like them to deal with you.

“Rather, you must love your enemies and do good to them, and lend without expecting any repayment. In this way, you will receive a great reward. You will be sons of the Most High, for he is kind to the ungrateful and the wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful.

“Do not judge, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn, and you will not be condemned. Forgive, and you will be forgiven. 

*****

This was maybe eight years ago.  

I was flying through Atlanta and my flight back to Austin was canceled. There were other flights canceled as well.  I met a man in his early twenties who was horribly disfigured.  It was difficult to look at him.  (Think of Sloth from the movie Goonies).  As we walked through the terminal - the people coming towards us moved out of his way.  The airline was putting us up at a nearby hotel.  We sat together and talked while we waited for the shuttle to the hotel.

He was from South Dakota, so I talked with him about the state.  He was from Watertown and I had been in Madison for eighteen years.  He had gotten a degree from Watertown Technical School and had a good job.  But, he was so disfigured that life had been tough for me.

It reminded me of Isaiah 53:

He had no beauty or majesty

    that would cause us to look at him;

    nothing in his appearance would attract us to him.

He was despised and shunned by others,

    a man of sorrows who was no stranger to suffering.

We loathed him and regarded him as of no account,

    as one from whom men avert their gaze.

 

Although it was our afflictions that he bore,

    our sufferings that he endured,

we thought of him as stricken,

    as struck down by God and afflicted.

 

But he was pierced for our offenses

    and crushed for our iniquity;

the punishment that made us whole fell upon him,

    and by his stripes, we have been healed.

*****

Back to the original statement:

“Today, think upon the dignity of each and every person.  Try to call to mind anyone you may fail to look at with perfect respect.  Who is it you look down upon and roll your eyes at?  Is it a person?” 

I could see people rolling their eyes at this man - but he was a real person, worthy of dignity and respect.  As I started this morning, God led me to think and pray for this man.  

Let’s give honor and dignity to all people!!!

LOVE WINS!!

Karen

March 11, 2022