Today this verse in the Bible keeps coming into my mind. Now years ago I would say that this would have been a normal thing to happen to me, because I was very focused on my Christian beliefs and spent a lot of time reading and studying the Bible. Over the years I have expanded my viewpoints and taken into consideration a lot of other belief systems, so when this verse popped into my head it was not something that I took lightly.
This is the verse that Jesus referred to when he first started ministering to people. I am paraphrasing but it goes something like this..
The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor, he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, to open the eyes of the blind, to comfort those who mourn, to proclaim the acceptable year of the Lord.
It occurs to me that these are things we all can do in our everyday lives. I think that this verse was reminded to me today by Spirit because we all can be ministers of Love and Light. When we are spreading love to those we come into contact with everyday, then we are doing the things spelled out in this verse. I don't think Jesus has the corner on this mission statement.
When we help someone to see their way out of a hopeless situation, we are opening the eyes of the blind. When we give comfort to someone who is grieving, when we show someone how to feel just a little bit better than they did a moment ago, we are doing the things that this verse suggests. Let us all be mindful of the small things we can do to make someone's day just a little better.
Sometimes a smile or a kind word is all someone needs to bring them back from the brink of despair. Sometimes we need to do these things for ourselves as well. Remember that there is a spark of the Divine within each one of us. I don't ascribe to the belief that some of us or all of us are born into darkness. I believe we are all children of the Light. We have just chosen to forget. Let us remember the Light that is within us and start spreading that light all around us. Not only will others begin to see the Light but there will be more light in our own lives as well.
No matter what our belief system we can all agree that love is the answer to any question. Each of these suggestions in this verse are just different ways of spreading love. Spirit reminded me of this verse for a reason. I think it was to remind me that there are hundreds of ways to spread love and that there is no corner on the market for that. One belief system or another is not responsible for being the only ones to spread the word on love. Let us all learn to love and accept one another, no matter who or what we believe about God and the Universe.
Message number eighteen......let us all love one another and be the ones who are spreading love and light into the dark corners of the world.
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