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| What about you? |
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Every day my job brings me in contact with people who are unhappy with themselves. A little at a time I try to help them past the things that make them feel that way and create new visions of themselves. So you can imagine how startling it was this past Sunday when I ran into a friend in the fellowship hall, during the course of our conversation she said "I'm perfect! God made me prefect." I had to chuckle and agree, God does do that for every one of us.
It was still making me smile when I received a daily reminder for counting the Omer yesterday. After some questions it listed the exercise for the day "Take a moment and concentrate on yourself, on your true inner self, not on your performance and how you project to others; and be at peace with yourself knowing that G-d created a very special person which is you." (Courtesy of: A Spiritual Guide to the counting of the Omer Forty-Nine Steps to Personal Refinement )
Which started me thinking. How often do I take the time to focus on my own inner self, that spark of the divine put there when God created me? Sadly the answer, as I'm sure it is for most people, was hardly ever. I focus on the big picture, on the present life, on making it through to the end of the race.
How different would things be if instead I focused on that inner self? Maybe they wouldn't change at all...but I certainly would. If we let that tiny spark of divinity within and the resounding knowledge that we are God's VIPs surround us and lift us up everything around will look differently. And we will move differently through that world. Peace and grace will abide.
I want that. |
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| To add a comment to "What about you?" |
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| May 22, 2007 |
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| In our performance-based world, this is so true... |
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| May 22, 2007 |
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That strikes right at my heart, too, Virginia.
I am a bus aide on a special needs/ behavioral studend bus route this year. In past years I have been struck by how "singled out" the students on these buses feel. And not in a good way. Since federal funding will not permit behavioral students to have an assistant on a bus of their own, they are put aboard the special needs buses which have wheel-chairs, and other kids on them that need help. I've found, more than once, that this creates a stigma for those students whose behavior is their cross to bear and not a physical or mental debility. They are singled out by the quote/unquote "normal" kids who ride regular school buses that do not have bus aides on them. They are called "retard" and other harsh things. They are not allowed to attend the same classes or even dances (sometimes). With all of their challenges, this is just one more step to take. Or an excuse to use their "fists" instead of their coping skills to handle these taunts.
The good news is that I have been led to build these kids up! Help them realize that they have lots of good that they can do! Help the learning and physically disabled on our bus to feel more "mainstream" themselves! One jr. high age boy on our bus (a behavioral student) helps an elementary school age boy by doing "drumming" on the school bus seats to help him learn patterns and coordination! They drum back and forth on the seats of the bus with their hands and teach each other new "riffs". The bus ride is smoother, and keeps them both busy as they are on the bus for over an hour each day. There are so many ways to "en"courage one another!
Still, it truly hurts when I see this same jr. high student lay down across his seat when we pass other students walking home, or try to hide his face when there are people on the sidewalk near his home when we drop him off. As you may or may not know, behavior students, like special needs students, get dropped off at their individual homes, and not at a community "bus stop" like the other kids. Again, they feel this singles them out as if there is something "wrong" with them.
Well, Virginia, thanks for bringing this up and helping me vent just a little. We've had great success on our bus this school year as the jr. high boy I was mentioning is going to be walking to his local high school next year. I pray he has great success there!
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| May 22, 2007 |
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You can see the unhappiness in people every day, from people you see in the grocery or bank or post office, or just walking down the street. I think it takes a conscious effort to take the time to realize we are God's creations, we are special in His eyes, and we need to show Him to the world. And we need to take the time to do that every day. Thanks for the message! |
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| May 22, 2007 |
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| How right you are. I find myself focusing daily on my downfalls as a I feel other people see me. Never thought of focusing on my inner self before. If I can do that maybe I wouldn't have such a negative attitude about myself.... Thanks |
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| May 22, 2007 |
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Thanks Ladies!
Each of your comments made me think about how society in general teaches us not to think of that inner self, not to be proud of being different, even in some way not to achieve our dreams. I've mentioned the line in other posts of mine but I come back to in my heart all the time its from a much larger quote but the line is "We are born to make manifest the glory of God within us"
What a world this would be if each generation taught that to the next and we all strove to live it. |
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