They’re watching. They’re listening. And they remember everything. It’s easy to forget they’re there and paying attention, especially when I’m caught off guard dealing with the unexpected. What great power that brings, and what great responsibility. I’m not one for lots of New Year’s resolutions, but I do take a look back each year and try to hopefully go forward a little wiser, a little better.
These past two years have been filled with so many hard things. The chaos in our world is nothing new, it’s our lot as humans. Eliphaz said, “man is born to trouble as surely as sparks fly upward.”
We’re all unique-in our personalities, our looks, our circumstances, our cultures. Even siblings raised together often find themselves with very different perspectives on what life was like growing up in the same household. We all have different ways of looking at each other and the world. The ability to express ourselves and be heard on social media coupled with the isolation and stresses brought on by a global pandemic have amplified the tension in our country and in our world. We’ve all felt it. It’s brought out the best and the worst in all of us. And our children are watching, listening, learning.
It’s easy to fake what I want the world to see, to be on my best behavior. But what about when I’m alone? As much as I’d like to believe that’s only my business, it’s not. Because it shapes everything about me, my attitudes and my opinions. It’s the real me. And my kids and grandkids have a “hypocrisy meter,” they can spot a fake in a heartbeat. No matter what I want them to see in me, they know if it’s the real deal or not. And they learn to emulate me, not the facade. Their values are “caught” not “taught.” So, I have great power and great responsibility.
As of this writing, I’m fully vaccinated, including a booster, and I’m still wearing a mask in indoor public spaces. My two main doctors have encouraged both, so that’s what I do. I don’t live in fear as far as getting COVID, but I am reasonably cautious. I want to “Look not only to [my] own interests, but also to the interests of others.” If my doing these small things can possibly help keep those I love and those who are vulnerable a little safer, I’ll do them. If twenty years down the road I’m still around and I find out it really didn’t help, so be it, but I’ll still not regret doing them because I did what I could do to help as far as I knew it.
What does that have to do with the great power and great responsibility to the small eyes and ears around me? Well, it’s difficult to be different. I have to evaluate my true motives for what I do and then be strong enough to do whatever I need to regardless of what others say or do. And I have to allow others the same freedom to do what they choose, while having a loving attitude toward them, including no hard feelings or unkind remarks. I have to convey that attitude to the littles, both in my outward and in my inward emotions and actions. They have to see me treat others like I want to be treated, even when I’m caught off guard and the real me shows through. It has to match the outside appearance. I want them to catch me truly loving other people. That’s a great responsibility.
The whole pandemic/mask/vaccine debate is only part of what’s going on in my head and heart these days. In our country and in our world there are as many viewpoints, opinions, and grievances as there are people and all of us have the same basic problem-we’re all human. We all want things our own way and we all think our way is right. Some of us are louder than others, but we all have an idea of the way things ought to be. For the sake of the littles coming after us, maybe we just need to get over ourselves. After evaluating what we think, what we believe, and why, maybe we just need to realize that we all have the great power and the great responsibility to look out for each other, treat each other like we want to be treated, love each other.
Love.
It’s “patient, kind, does not envy or boast…not arrogant or rude…does not insist on its own way, is not irritable or resentful…does not rejoice at wrongdoing but rejoices with the truth…bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things…”
People who love:
have “compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness…patience, bearing with one another..forgiving one another…love, which binds everything together in perfect harmony…thankful…”
If I love, I:
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander…every form of malice…” I’m “kind and compassionate…forgiving…”
In this New Year, as always, my littles are looking. They’re listening. They’re learning. And I want them to see me dwelling on these things in my mind and heart. I want these things to come out even when I’m caught off guard. If I’m making any New Year’s resolutions this year, these are the things on my list.
May your 2022 be light, laughter, and love.
Blessings!
1 Job 5:7
2 Philippians 2:4
2 1 Corinthians 13:4-7
3 Colossians 3:12-15
4 Ephesians 4:31
