Jesus turned to his disciples in private and said, “Blessed are the eyes that see what you see.” Luke 10:23

I have had a few posts prior to this about the ways that we are treating each other in this world. It seems that we can focus on the ugly, and cruel, almost to a point where we are desensitized to the plights within our culture. So many graphics that populate our evening news about all the hatred that is being shared amongst each other, it is overwhelming to look at, and comprehend. We are all pre-occupied with it, and to a point where it is normal to see violence in our communities, people killing others, stealing from others, looting, rioting, spewing forth hatred, and countless other examples of how the sanctity of life has been degraded to nothing more than the dirt that we were sprung from.

I was sitting with my wonderful Grandmother last night. She is within her final days in this world. I know this is coming and have prepared myself for the event of her passing on to the next world. She has battled with Dementia for a very long time, which leaves her in a state of confusion sometimes, but last night, she recognized me. It was one of those rare moments that shows she can find some of those memories in there. It was nice to be with her, seeing her comfortable to a point, and not in any visible pain. I will never know for sure what is going on in her mind at this point, but she seemed to be at peace with everything going on to and around her.

So, she fell asleep before I left. In that moment, she reminded me of my babies when they were born. Very still, very comfortable, peaceful, yet in that same moment, fragile. In a single word, fragile.

Everyone in this world comes into the same way, and we should all be so lucky to be able to leave it the same way. This morning, that moment has been what is on my mind. If only we as a people, and I mean as a people across the world, could see each other in that fragile moment in life. Leaving the hardened shells that we have created on the outside and see that vulnerability that is abundant within us all, maybe we can see where our compassion for each other should really be at. It is sad that is has almost become a news cliché within our culture to hear of someone being killed, maimed, or harmed in some way. Every person reported on has a name, a family, a history, that comes along with them, and somewhere along the way, we have lost touch with that reality. Instead of respecting the fact that we are all of the same cloth, we have become a culture of death, where it is excepted as a form of being apart of certain neighborhoods or countries. Sure, many people have spoken out about it, but that speech fades into the darkness again, where it is only consumed again by hatred and despair.

If we could only learn to respect our fellow neighbors, see them for the fragile and vulnerable people that they really are, in every moment, it would bring about this huge wave of change. We can not have any respect for our environment, without respect for our own humankind.. from conception to the end stages of life. Our souls will always return the place that it started from. It did not start out hating the world, it should not end that way, and it should not come to that conclusion at any point in time in between.