Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself."
I love that God made our world in color.
From the kayak, I watched the sun cross over the fresh spring foliage. The shore, covered in trees, showed various shades of green. The sky moved from pale blue to sky blue to cerulean as the white clouds whispered across. Along the bank, rocks and pebbles rested in assorted shades of brown. Beautiful colors. All created by God.
In the hours before we took our kayaks out on the lake, I'd wrestled with how to respond to recent news of racial strife and sorrow. I'm an older white woman who has only walked in my shoes. I can't say I understand what my friends of color are experiencing, but I can say I care.
I contemplated how to offer hope in a time of sorrow and help in a time of stress. But I'll be honest, I wasn't sure how.
As I prayed, I understood two things:
- What's going on in the world right now is breaking God's heart.
- God loves every single person he created, and he calls us as his followers to love people, too.
Together, let's toss Satan out and pour in the ingredients of love, hope, compassion, and peace. Let's stir in joy, acceptance, patience and understanding in whatever way we can.
As I floated in the kayak and soaked in the variegated world we live in, Jesus reminded me to love and appreciate people. He gave us different shades of skin, different textures of hair, different eye colors. And he gave all of us hearts for love, abilities to help, and minds to think. We are more alike than we are different, because we are created in God's image.
Love God and love people. Click to Tweet