tonight I turned on the TV for about 45 minutes, and started flipping through the channels...I came across the music video for Kelly Clarkson's "Because of you." The video depicts a little girl who is looking for love and affection from her father, and how he is too busy with business and comes home late, and eventually ends up leaving. Well i only watched about 45 seconds of the video and i started to cry to ball like a little baby. First it was "Jesus, let this never be me; I never want to do this to whoever my family will be;" and then that emotion was turned towards others, and I realized how many children in America face that everyday of their life... How many children in America grow up in broken homes, how many children grow up with such pain from not having the love of their father in their life. How many people do we encounter every day are hurting from the lack of love in their life, and how much can the little things we do change it...
I have a friend who used to work in the dietary section of a nursing home. One day he went into his current job and a new man had started and mentioned he came from the same nursing home and shared how many people at the home continually talked about my friend, and how he would run around hugging the residents and the staff, and the joy that he brought to that place. The man said to my friend, "I must have come right after you left, the way they talked about you." After comparing dates, they realized that my friend had left the nursing home more than 1 year and a half ago. It all goes to show that you never know how much of an impact the little things you do in life have on those around you.
The other things I saw on TV tonight was on C-SPAN. Michael Moore was giving a speech in his hometown, and he preached the Gospel. He talked about how the Priest at Mass that morning had shared out of Matthew 25:
25:31 "But when the Son of Man comes in His glory, and all the angels with Him, then He will sit on His glorious throne. 32 "All the nations will be gathered before Him; and He will separate them from one another, as the shepherd separates the sheep from the goats; 33 and He will put the sheep on His right, and the goats on the left. 34 "Then the King will say to those on His right, 'Come, you who are blessed of My Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. 35 'For I was hungry, and you gave Me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me something to drink; I was a stranger, and you invited Me in; 36 naked, and you clothed Me; I was sick, and you visited Me; I was in prison, and you came to Me.' 37 "Then the righteous will answer Him, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, and feed You, or thirsty, and give You something to drink? 38 'And when did we see You a stranger, and invite You in, or naked, and clothe You? 39 'When did we see You sick, or in prison, and come to You?' 40 "The King will answer and say to them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did it to one of these brothers of Mine, even the least of them, you did it to Me.' 41 "Then He will also say to those on His left, 'Depart from Me, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which has been prepared for the devil and his angels; 42 for I was hungry, and you gave Me nothing to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave Me nothing to drink; 43 I was a stranger, and you did not invite Me in; naked, and you did not clothe Me; sick, and in prison, and you did not visit Me.' 44 "Then they themselves also will answer, 'Lord, when did we see You hungry, or thirsty, or a stranger, or naked, or sick, or in prison, and did not take care of You?' 45 "Then He will answer them, 'Truly I say to you, to the extent that you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to Me.' 46 "These will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life." And then Michael Moore goes on to challenge us, saying "The ticket to heaven lies in the hands of the poor." Yes, he is a liberal; yes he is quite fanatic; yes, I do not agree with everything he says - much of it is far off; but HERE, he is right. Forget Democratic/Republican and Liberal/Conservative...What is the heart of God...I think that Michael Moore has it understood well; and he is the one trying to teach it to us. God sure does use the foolish things to confound the wise...I was dumbfounded, excited, and somewhat jealous. Maybe the kicker is regardless of personal agendas; God's heart is always for the down-and-out, the poor and the needy...
HAPPY THANKSGIVING :)
I watch MTV like daily and I have never seen that video.... but I have heard the song so many times. Each time i hear the words to that song something from within me hurts. As I read your blog faces of kids you and I both know flashed through my mind and the tears began to whel up till there was a steady stream of them which now cover my face. The hurt of a child who doesnt know the love of a mother or a father is so unbelievable painful to think about and yet we must, because as you and whoever you quoted at the end there said... "The ticket to heaven lies in the hands of the poor." Be it poor because they have no money or poor beacuse they have no education, or love or whatever else they may be poor beacuse of... they are where heaven rests. Jesus spent time with people that others deemed as worthless just as we today would deem the poor worthless. As Christians, especially Christian leaders we should be showing love as much as we can, because sometimes that is all we have to offer someone who is in need. "Silver and gold have i none, but what I have I give to you." I don't know about anyone else but I have nothing to give those who are hurting because no one loves them other than the love of CHRIST. My heart breaks when I look into some of thier eyes and it pains me to know that the beif encounters had with them might be the only time in that day, week, month, year, or even lifetime that they will experience love. Knowing this and having the experiences and challenges which have been set before me this past week... I want to show that love as much as possible.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing and for being open. Thank you for yet agian in your own way challenging people in thier walk. =]
dude, blogage more, por favor.
ReplyDeletelol, i'm a natural born rapper.
: )
ReplyDeleteI agree with Urk.... =)
ReplyDeleteOh and umm... check my lastest blog... ha ha
dude, the comments are AMAZING on your blog, kat. lol. 15 minutes = 10 comments. cha.
ReplyDeleteI am well pleased to see that you're getting the broader picture here my friend. Those that truly find the heart of God are those that have nothing, those that acknowledge they are in need of something other than those things which they have in their hands to make them happy. After all don't the scriptures tell us that Jesus came for those who were sick and needed a doctor? That is not to say those who have will never discover the heart of God, but how much easier is it for those who have nothing. The story of the rich young ruler is yet another example of that very thought. Despite what majority of the church leaders say, God doesn't care about our political affiliation or even our denominational ties( I do belive the denominational splits bring a tear to the eyes of the Lord)all He desires are people, rich or poor, who acknowledge they have nothing outside of Him, and that my friend is the heart of the matter and I'm glad to see you are understanding this. Now the "kicker" as you put it, is for you to share this thought, this truth with everyone, not just through your blog but through your mouth, in your conversations with others, and through your lifestyle and how you seek God. James DO NOT remain silent, for now that you know this truth you are held responsible to not hold it in. LET IT OUT !!!!!!!!!!!!!
ReplyDeleteCourtney