Blessed are the peacemakers!

Over the last week the world has fallen in love with a young peacemaker, Kayla Muller, who gave her life for refuges who are dying and have mostly been forgotten. Yes it is too easy for the media to be more concerned about a certain news anchor who has lived a lie in his reporting for too long and allow the legacy of this young woman to be overshadowed by the release of a movie for valentine’s weekend that promotes a false love and violence for the truth.

Most assume that someone else will take a stand, speak out and put their life on the line and take a risk. Blatant evil surrounds us, yet we pretend each day that it’s not really my responsibility or thing so let someone else be a risk taker. What happens when no else chooses to stand against the continued acts of violence whether that is in your neighborhood or across the world? The screams of a neighbor’s daughter banging on her mother’s door echoes around me but no one asks questions and instead calls the police. What happened to the power of an open arm and a listening ear to ask if you need help?

Life lessons surround me not just from what would be perceived as the seasoned and experienced but the very young and old that give of themselves in an unselfish fashion. I’m sure that the Mother Teresa’s, Kayla’s or Malalha’s of the world aren’t consumed with having their name’s in the forefront but their passions embraced by more to see freedom for the oppressed and the ongoing terrorism and torture of the innocent be confronted by acts of kindness and goodness. It’s amazing how a single candle can overcome the blatant darkness when the power lines have been severed from a storm.

Do I have to travel to India, Syria or another an under resourced or battled torn country to confront the evil in the world that oppresses orphans and widows? Clearly Kayla believed she couldn’t assume that someone else would step up. Mother Teresa would quietly show by her example that God has called us to love the forgotten in our midst. 

The real question is what are you going to do TODAY, not what might happen tomorrow or next Tuesday. Discover the difference that one person can make in a world that is at times focused on all of the wrong things!

Blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God!