A while back I was given a sermon, and it spoke to me. It still speaks to me.   It resonates in a lot of things much as an good sermon should.

There are 3 men of history, actually 4 men I would draw your attention too.

HATE

Genghis Khan is arguably one of the greatest leaders of the Mongol empire. Legend of his birth  says he was clutching at a blood clot, a dark omen of things to come.  History is forever scarred by the myriad of lives he laid to waste.  When he was reprimanded in a letter by the pope for his atrocities; he responded, “I am the punishment of God. If you had not committed great sins, God would not have sent a punishment like me upon you. “

LOVE

In another world, in a different time, there was a man who taught the value of empathy with wisdom.  His statement often makes me think of another great fisher of men because I think that may be who he is referencing.  Gandhi said, “Give a man a fish you feed him for a day, teach a man to fish feed him for a lifetime.  I think empathy is a side of love, but with wisdom it becomes much more powerful. With ignorance it may lead in the opposite directions.  Like chiding without giving direction or coddling without using what is referred to as tough love. (This may be able to be worded differently and still get point across, like Tough love is….. I had to read it three times to understand)

INDIFFERENCE

History also speaks of another man, a man whose life would be of little consequence today had he not crossed paths with another man.  He was in charge of a great number of men when the city was in turmoil.  For much of my life what he did made the most sense to me, but now when you look at leadership you recognize there are tough decisions to be made, and when it came time to do the right thing he washed his hand of his responsibility in order to appease those in power that could have created great unrest.  His name was Pontius Pilot, and his apathy is what made him known.  When he washed his hands he made the decision to protect himself.

The sermon that I referenced explained the opposite of love is actually indifference rather than hate.  So introspectively I would ask myself from time to time, “What am I indifferent about and then how does that affect me? “Or better still the fact that I don’t give a shit about something, someone or some cause.  Is it because it doesn’t affect me?  In life you can only care about a certain number of things, and the things that you value should move you.  I leave you with a story.

I think this concept can be best demonstrated here.

Student :(asks  jokingly)  “Why do you hate me?”
Professor :  (responds jokingly)  “How can you hate someone you don’t even care about.”

I also thought there was a pretty good quote here in the movie backdraft

 

 

BE THE FIRE YOU WANT TO SEE IN THIS WORLD 😉