Opinions

Mother’s Day was always a favorite of mine growing up, in fact, it ranks right up there with most people. Statista.com lists Memorial Day and Thanksgiving as the top two, and for lots of good reasons… remembering soldiers who gave their lives in service and gathering to express gratitude for our blessings.

I forced myself to be quiet the other morning. “Ten minutes,” I allowed myself, with the bedroom windows flung open. That’s when the birds sang to me. It seems that birds especially love Daylight Savings Time, or is it that I was previously asleep when they were singing?

Images of the United States continue to drop like an anvil. That thud is the way people around the planet view the super-power that is the USA. Long-seen as the land of opportunity and freedom, especially the right to speak and to worship, key reasons America sought independence, are fast becoming the last vestiges of its greatness.

How much grace does it take to love our enemies? That’s a good question. Tragedies occur all around us and it’s true we are heartbroken and disturbed, but how do we react when our family is harmed or we are personally offended? I admit that I do not always have the character of Christ when I’m being threatened or provoked to anger. Our natural reaction is to retaliate because that’s a natural part of our carnal nature. Most of us agree that people need to be punished for their evil deeds, but Christians must remember the temptation to hold unforgiveness against anyone must be resisted. Yes, we will face challenges and situations that attempt to lure us into loathing attitudes but, it’s forgiveness and love that keeps us on the narrow way of peace and contentment.

Most of my earliest memories of my Mother are black-and-white snippets of her standing before the kitchen sink washing dishes and wearing a blue apron with navy and red flowers, which tied in a bow in the back.

I start noticing the planes overhead when it’s nearing the time to go. Planes don’t fly low over this small Mexican city. San Miguel de Allende doesn’t have its own airport, so the few planes flying overhead are high in the sky, headed off to somewhere else. I rarely notice them at all -- until it’s time to leave.

For those of you that read this column, I hope the insights and considerations are worth your time. I have political and social speculations like all of you, but I would much rather stay focused on how awesome God is. I’m just a student desiring to understand what I believe, while also trying to listen carefully and be discerning about the convictions of others. Everyone has their own opinions about everything, and when we become involved in endless criticisms and accusations, it accomplishes nothing. In fact, it makes things worse and we have enough of that already. It’s important to me that I know why I believe my views and this can only be accomplished through prayer and study. If we desire to present Christ to a confused world, He pleads with us to surrender our will and learn how to live in the awareness of His presence.

I would rather have a gun in my hand than a cop on the phone. Exactly. When our great country was young and forming as an independent nation, they were smart enough to write the U.S. Constitution and then add 10 amendments, all on the same day in 1791. The ten remain our Bill of Rights.