Life

    I feel that one of the most precious and most valuable gifts that your parents ever gave to you was your LIFE!  Since you have received that gift you have been able to do all things that have made you the person you are today.  You have been able to have one experience after the other.  It’s true we may look back on some of the experiences in our lives and think we might have been better off if we had never had to go through that situation.  But the truth is, without life we would have NO experiences at all!

     We need to appreciate that this wonderful gift that was given to us without our asking is also the same gift given by other parents to their children.  We need to not only have a high regard and appreciation for our life but also for the lives of others. 

     As a Sanatani Hindu, Gandhi found the message of Jesus in the Sermon on the Mount to be very interesting.  Gandhi drew the attention of the world to the noble message of the Sermon.  He stated its relevance for the peaceful living of humanity.  Moreover, he has practically shown its application, especially its teaching on non-violence to the public affairs of life.

     Among the many valuable lessons, we may learn from this sermon I have chosen to highlight but a few that will help us consider the view of the life of ourselves and that the lives of others:

1.       Love your enemies.  Within the life course of Jesus, he demonstrated that it was easy for someone to have and display love for those you also loved them in return.  But to be able to show love to those who disagreed with your view or plainly despise you!  This was the sign of true love that imitated the love God has for mankind.

2.      Do good to those who hate you.  Jesus showed that not all people would agree with your viewpoint.  However, if your life actions are in agreement with God’s requirements then you will find yourself under obligation to do good to ALL people.

3.      Pray for those who mistreat you.  This may seem contradictory to the nature of our human makeup.  But this too shows that our love for human life goes beyond our own thinking and displays the thoughts of our heavenly father.

4.      If anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back.  This at first may seem extremely counterproductive.  However, Jesus was not only speaking about those things that we may have in a material sense.  Our attitude should be, if necessary, even to letting ourselves be defrauded in the hopes of gaining someone to God’s side of the great issue.  Jesus also would be including those things of a non-tangible nature.  We may feel that someone has brought injury upon our name or our reputation.  These too are things of little importance in the larger scheme of things.

5.      Do to others as you would have them do to you.  This is in summation the ultimate quality that mankind should be striving to achieve.  In viewing the life of others, in showing honor to others, and wanting others to treat us in a respectful and dignified manner, we should be taking the lead and showing them the same.

     There are many other aspects of this one sermon that we could discuss however, it can be shown that Jesus, when here upon the earth, had a deep respect for the lives of others.  Since his ascension into heaven his viewpoint has not changed.

     Those desirous of referring to themselves as Christians should always be making necessary adjustments in their imperfect lives to better reflect the qualities that have been set out by our exemplar, Jesus.  Then, and only then, can we truly say that we have reached beyond the confines of our imperfect lives and display the true manner of living that was intended from the beginning of creation.

     The sad problem of the entire situation is: we’re only human!  

QUOTE TO CONSIDER

THOUGHTFUL GEM

"The demise of ONE life

lessens the value of ALL lives!"