I love this photo (but don’t know who to give the credit to)! My goal and hope is a world where we can all look at each other and the world at large with love and respect. I know I’m a dreamer and also a broken record, but nevertheless I continue spreading the worldview of love. Imagine with me, if you will.
Imagine how our relationships would change if we started and ended every conversation and interaction with love and kindness. Would there be any place for fighting and resentment? Would we even need mediators or divorce attorneys? Would families get together more often and actually enjoy spending time together?
Imagine how our governments and communities could thrive and progress if we treated each other with respect and dignity, listening to other viewpoints, and seeking peaceful solutions to the plethora of problems we face. We could pool our resources and build on each other’s work and ideas, rather than wasting time and money in deadlocked disagreement or destroying or vetoing policies and programs just because they came from the other side of the aisle. What if we acted like grownups and took responsibility rather than always looking for someone else to blame?
Imagine how religious people could change the world for GOOD, if they united with a spirit of love and focused on meeting the needs of anyone who is hurting or hungry. What if we didn’t start from a place of judgment, control or superiority, but rather a place of humility, acceptance and compassion. What if we looked for our common ground and set up camp there? What if we exerted more effort on meaningful community outreach than on building funds, doctrinal debate, preaching to the choir, patting each other on the back, or expressing our “thoughts and prayers.” What if we actively searched for the “least of these” and built relationships with them based on love and respect(hence, no longer thinking of them as the “least of these”)? What would Jesus do?
Imagine a world where we didn’t have violence or war. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?! Imagine if everyone lived in a state of love and peace, sharing with each other, and treating each other as valued equals. John Lennon visualized a world like that and released a song about it 53 years ago. Please listen to Dolly Parton’s remake and join me in imagining and working towards a reality of a loving world.
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