I am tired of living in fear. The fear that family members won’t make it safely through the day because some crazy person will decide that today’s the day. The fear that I will be socially rejected because I broke some unwritten rule of conduct—Thou shalt not wear white after Labor Day. (You know, something that is REALLY important in the grand scheme of things!) The fear that I will offend someone unintentionally because everyone is offended by something these days and I have too passionate a nature to be leashed and sometimes my opinions actually come out of my mouth-gasp!
There are many unique differences between each one of us and often those differences become divisions … and there are so many, many divisions between us—watch any news program and you can pick them out. Culture, skin color, gender, religious beliefs, lifestyle choices … the list goes on and on.
I am tired of living with fear. I am tired of division. With so much to divide us, what brings us together? What is one thing ALL of us need, want, and live our lives for?
I believe the answer can be found in a parable taught by the Master Teacher, Jesus Christ. In the King James Version of the Bible, the story is told in Luke, chapter 10, verses 25-37:
25. And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26. He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27. And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28. And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
29. But he, willing to justify himself, said unto Jesus, And who is my neighbour?
30. And Jesus answering said, A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, which stripped him of his raiment, and wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.
31. And by chance there came down a certain priest that way: and when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.
32. And likewise a Levite, when he was at the place, came and looked on him, and passed by on the other side.
33. But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was: and when he saw him, he had compassion on him,
34. And went to him, and bound up his wounds, pouring in oil and wine, and set him on his own beast, and brought him to an inn, and took care of him.
35. And on the morrow when he departed, he took out two pence, and gave them to the host, and said unto him, Take care of him; and whatsoever thou spendest more, when I come again, I will repay thee.
36. Which now of these three, thinkest thou, was neighbour unto him that fell among the thieves?
37. And he said, He that shewed mercy on him. Then said Jesus unto him, Go, and do thou likewise.
Christ taught that we should, “Love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.”
I believe that what binds all of us together is LOVE. It seems so easy, just love, right? Too often we make it too complicated.
The man traveling the road from Jerusalem to Jericho was stripped, wounded, and left half dead. There are many of us who feel emotionally stripped, wounded and as though we are crawling through each minute of our days. Perhaps the best way to bridge all of the divisions in our lives is to follow the Savior’s teachings and start LOVING each other on our individual roads to Jericho.
I’m suggesting that we follow the Samaritan’s example, as we go through our own days, SEE each other in our wounds, and have compassion on each other.
Let me share a personal example on what this would look like. I was having a crappy week—you know, the kind when you are running constantly, but your house looks like a disaster and you haven’t done a single thing you’d hoped to do? Well, I was determined to get something done on my list of things to do, so I was dropping off a book to a friend’s house … and she invited me in. Her house looked like mine! (Her house NEVER looks like mine, it’s always spotless, so this was a revelation!) She invited me to her kitchen, moved some half-finished cereal bowls off the counter, and asked me if I wanted pancakes. She had just gotten her kids off to school and hadn’t eaten breakfast, hence, the pancakes. She pulled out her hidden stash of chocolate chips out of the freezer (HEY! She had a hidden bag too!!!), added those and some coconut to the pancakes. We moved more kid stuff off the kitchen table to eat our pancakes and talk …
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It was the most nurturing, caring thing EVER. It was exactly what I needed in my too-hectic life right then. I needed to be seen for myself, to be loved in my sweats, and brought into the reality of her life—not the scrubbed-up, holiday version.
What if I do this too? What if I go about my own life, and SEE people where they lie, wounded in the gutter of this journey of life & truly reach out to love them as the Savior taught? What lessons will I learn?
Growing up all over the world gave Emlee Taylor an opportunity to see the incredible differences the Lord created in humanity; and even better, the passions we all share as members of the human race: love for family, faith, & a desire to make a difference.
Emlee lives life with passion—focusing her time now on raising four children and teaching them to recognize truth and to live true to that truth, regardless of others’ expectations. Emlee is passionately in love with her bestest friend and husband of more than 20 years.
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