Where are you heading today?
Before you head out I wanted to share something I heard on my walk with Georgia this morning.
It is a parable about a farmer who was greeted by a person walking down the road. The person asked the farmer, “what are the people like in the village ahead?”
The farmer responded, “what were they like in the last village you passed through?”
The person responded, “they were very nice, friendly and generous.”
The farmer replied, “that is what you will find in the next village.”
A while later a second person approached the farmer. He too asked what the people were like in the village ahead.
Once again the farmer inquired, “what were the people like in the village you just came from?”
The person said, “they were rude, mean and not helpful at all.”
The farmer then replied, “that is what you will find in the village ahead.”
I loved this story and it’s core message of how our perspective is significant to the interactions we have throughout our days.
It also made me think of this time of year and the hustle and bustle that can come with this season.
So before we head out today, I wanted to invite you to join me to...
Pause. Breathe. Pray.
May we check the lens we are looking through right now. Are we more aligned with the first person in the parable or the second?
May we choose to align our lens with the perspective of seeing the good in others. And if we meet someone who gives us every reason to shift our perspective, may we choose to live out God’s love to them by practicing patience, kindness, being slow to anger, etc. It may be challenging but by choosing to stop the anger and pass along love instead is transformative for our hearts - and theirs.
Often it isn’t who is around us that can make or break our day. It is the lens we are looking through.
With love and hope,
Shawn
“Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth.” - Colossians 3:2
