Perspectives...

i'm not sure how the rest of your year has been going, but for most of the people around me it's started with some really difficult times. my new-agey friend says it's the universe making space for different things... and i'm not quite sure how i feel about that...

but yet, i've had I must say I’ve been a bit rattled for the first part of this year. Some of my mates have really been going through some dreadful stuff. My one mate broke up with her boyfriend, then wrote of her car and today they found her cat dead in the park – car hit it. She is devastated, and although I know the boyfriend was a cheating psychopath, she is hurting badly. Then another mate of mine, ended up in intensive care with breathing problems a week after they broke into their house and stole his uninsured notebook and then another guy drove into his wife’s car. Another friend's uncle died very suddenly of a heartattack. And then my godchildren’s dad told his wife after being together for 17 years that he wants a divorce and he’s met a 20 year old….

My brother-in-law is really struggling with his leg, it’s very painful and he might have to have a knee replacement. And had another epileptic attack. My mates and loved ones lives seems to be falling apart around me and it feels like there’s so little I can do for them… (I suppose prayer is the most magnificent I can do for them, but sometimes it feels like it's not enough).

and i suppose that's where i've learnt to look at life and the relativity of it all. one friend might be devastated about yet another valentine on her own, but i dont think it totally relates to someone's husband leaving her after 17 years of being together. not to negate any pain anyone is feeling, because i believe that we often forget that that is still the pain that people feels around us. and also not to compare what it feels like, because you can't really get into someone else's shoes, can you...

God gave us each a perspective, but sometimes it is good to sort of just look outside yourself. just when i get desperate about my finances / relationships or lack thereof / past hurts, i realise that there are others that need me more than i need myself. that's why God says "do not be concerned about anything"... He's already got that in hand. if we however, get too caught up with ourselves, we cant / dont care enough about those around us.

... but this is not an accusation or a call for hail mary's. it's all about balance. sometimes consolidation is needed, but sometimes a little bit of constraint about self-pity is called for. He FEELS for us. He CARES for us... but He needs our hands and feet and especially prayers, to touch those of the hurting and the sick and the lonely.

If we do not heed this call, who will???