Do no harm. Do good. Stay in love with God.
​Rueben P. Job based on John Wesley
These three simple and yet complex rules have the power to change ourselves and our world. I try to live them out every day, and it is difficult and easy all at the same time. It is also how I keep sane during this time of social isolation, conflicting information, and unrest.
Trying to live into these rules is not easy and no one does it fully. Our actions can have consequences that we never intended or didn’t even realize. However, that is no excuse for me not to try to live into these rules each day. It is in the trying that I find peace. In these times when I feel I can’t control anything; I can control my actions and how I relate to others. I try to do what I can do and leave the rest to God. That is how I keep on going through these difficult times, that right now we don’t see and end coming anytime soon.
Since I am trying to do no harm, I wear my mask, so as not to infect others. I speak positively, and with hope, while not trying to be a Pollyanna, for that can give us false hope, which doesn’t do anyone any good. I try to realistically hopeful. I treat everyone with respect and try to see that Christ is in them, even if they don’t see Christ in themselves.
By doing good I am trying to be helpful to others in this life. Trying to ease the burdens of others. This for me is really the easiest of the rules. I have always been a person who likes to help others. I think that is because I knew what it was like to need help and not get it as child, and that even as a child I didn’t want other people to experience that. For whatever reason that I am wired that way, I am thankful that helping others is just part of me being me.
Doing good is one way that I connect and stay in love with God. The different ways people connect with God are as varied as there are people. Also, the ways we connect can differ in our season of life. The one constant connector is prayer. Prayers help me to connect and love God, more than I can ever explain. Sometimes I don’t even talk or try to think, I just let my mind go and be in God’s presence. For some this is meditation, for me it is just being still and feeling God’s loving presence envelope me, which these days brings me to tears, most of the time. Listening to sacred music, be it contemporary or classical, can help us feel God when God might feel distant from us, and remember when God does feel distant from us, it is us who have moved away, not God. Being in nature, the artwork of God can calm the soul and helps me through a tough day. There are so many ways to connect and stay in love with God, and we all have ones that touch us deeply. We are blessed to have so many different ways to God and feel God’s love.
So that is how I get through these difficult times of closing, opening and closing again, of not knowing what or who to believe. I know that God has not given up on us and doesn’t want us to give up on him or on each other. So, I just keep my head down, wear a mask, wash my hands, and live out my faith to the best of my ability. I try to live by those three simple, but not so simple rules and let God handle the rest.
Gracious & Loving God, Help us to trust you, help us to live out our faith in real tangible ways so that others will know that we are Christians by our love. Give us grace to be able to let things go that are not in our control. Create in us a heart that will be still and know that you are God, so that we can be filled with your Holy Spirit and live out our faith in you another day. Amen
Be safe, stay well.
Suzanne