Matthew 12:33-37

“For what fills the heart will rise to the lips.”  Matthew 12:34b

This one seems pretty simple doesn’t it?  And yet, as I meditated on these words, I thought about how we often react to things we see on the news.  Now, I know that we don’t all watch the same news or even see the same thing on the news about the same story, but we all react to it. 

My question is this, how do we react?  Do we react with love or anger?  With sadness or judgement? With grief or pettiness?

Think about that for a moment.  I’ll wait, but be honest with yourself.

I think lately, we often react with pettiness… they, whoever they might be, deserved it, for whatever reason.  

This could be a storm, an arrest, detention, violence, murder, poverty, abuse, and the list goes on.  

I think we have forgotten our humanity lately.  We are too busy living in judgement mode, in ego. 

Let’s go back a few weeks to our first reflection on Matthew 7:5 about removing the plank from our own eye first, so that we can clearly see how to remove the speck from our friend’s eye.  

I have continued to reflect on that every day since.  I am finding that I have need to remember it everyday. 

Once I have removed the plank from my own eye with love, I can no longer see the speck (that’s how it’s removed) from my friend’s eye. 

Once I have let go of judgement of others and of myself, all that remains is love and compassion.  So, instead of letting that pettiness of “well, they deserve what ever they get,” settle in our hearts, let’s let love flood our thoughts and fill our hearts.  Let’s let compassion flow from our lips.  Let’s push judgment aside, recognize it for what it is, ego, and remove that plank from our own eye so that we can see and hear more clearly. 

Until next time…♥️