Journey down Love Ave. #1

I woke up again with a mind full of 'aha's.  This Love Ave. I am going down is taking me to a place called Unconditional Love Alley.  Down this 'alley'  I find that people love each other just because they can.  I keep being reminded of a word I learned from Desmond Tutu- Ubuntu.  In its essense is "I am because We are".  It speaks to being connected...each and everyone of us. What alarmed me is that if "I" really "Am" than life just got more interesting.  You see, in the rat race, crazy world we all live in it is so easy to not be connected. We can say 'we are', because we wake up next to someone, get our kids off to school, talk to people at the grocery store, on the phone, at a restaurant.  But are we always listening?  Are we always connecting?  Are we sometimes just moving through the motions without paying attention to being connected?  I wonder.

I friend recently told me that "How do we teach paradise to our children when they are already living in it?".  Those words have stirred a pot for me.  How is it that we are called to love others as ourselves;  love our neighbor so to speak.  How is it that we know this guy named Jesus unconditionally  loved, and therefore healed, so many.  He loved those that had different color skin, different beliefs, diseases we can only imagine...truly only imagine.  He lived at a time and place that would not always be described as paradise.  

Flash forward to today....my children wake up in a warm bed, two parents that love them, a hot breakfast, a kiss and hug and a blessing as they go off into the world each day.  How do I teach them about this heaven place?  Why would they want to set their treasure on that place?  This place is pretty darn good.  When they become adults, that little bubble breaks....and the reality here on earth will hit them in the face if they are not prepared.  I want them prepared and equipped for that time....but how do I do it?  Any ideas?  I do not know, but I am sure it begins with Love.  How do I teach my children to love others- those considered untouchables- those living in places we could only describe as pure hell (amazingly these same people might describe their situation as filled with joy--and that is another blog post for sure)? 

As I ask these questions I am reminded of an action of my oldest just this week.  Katie took the noun LOVE and made it an action word so beautifully and humbly.  Her little brother was sick, sleeping on the couch.  She came in, with her little glass pocket cross she so excitedly bought with her own money last week and placed it on Ben's chest...and then sat on the floor next to him.  It was something to witness...and all from an eight year old.  She is a light in my life.  I am blessed to be her mom for sure. 

I wonder if those AIG exec and the bankers and all of us put Love-ubuntu- God first, at our center, and then wealth down a notch.  Would we be where we are today?  

Off to run.....and I am heading down to the fork in the road in which I need to decide if I am going to LOVE because it feels warm and fuzzy and easy or because it is unconditional...taking and accepting everyone where they are on their own journey...and just love.  Can you guess which road I am going to take?  Maybe my next entry will explain a little more what happened down Unconditional Love Alley.  Peace, Joy and Love!  Lulu