This is January 9, 2013.It is likely to be somewhere below zero for a low in the Chicagoland area. It is likely that there are many inches of snow on the ground. It is likely to be bundled like someone going on a dog sled race. This is the liokelihood for anyone living in this area.
Today is different. This whole winter season is different. We have had less than 1 inch of snow over 3 or 4 days of snow flurries. We have no snow on the ground. I haven’t used the shovel even once. Today I was out in a short sleeve shirt. Mind you it wasn’t for very long but I could walk comfortably especially in the sun. It felt like a pleasant day in mid-March rather than a day in early to mid-January.
I want to let the reader know that this writing is not in complaint. It is to state a set of observations. Frankly, I am always glad and pleased when the weather gives me temperatures my skin recieves comfortable. Today was certainly that…comfortable.
Warmth is something we may take for granted. Instead of being thankful for its presence we may become upset when warmth is lacking. That is true for physical warmth of the sun or the furnace. It is also true of the emotional warmth which makes out lives sweeter and more liveable.
Think about the last time you recieved a warm welcome from someone unexpected. Do you remember it? Were you thankful? Did you thank the other person for their warmth toward you? I not, why not? The best way to foster warth is to give thanks for it. The best way to increase warmth person to person is to practice the warmth you felt from the unexpected source.
After you have given thanks to the other person and to God allow that warmth to fill you and direct your actions toward others. It is possible that others may not be feeling so warm. They might take the opportunity to send a chill in your good feelings.
There is a temptation to lash out at the chilly person. That would be a mistake. Instead take the warm from the unexpected source and kindle it again like banking a fire that has burned down until glowing coals are under a layer of ash. Dust off the ash from your heart. Be thankful for the warmth planted there which allows the warmth to grow again in you.
Take that warmth and share it expecially with the chilly person. It is not certain that the chilly person will warm but it is possible. However, beyond the other person’s response is your own response. How you are impacted by your own warmth is more important than how the other person is reacts to your warmth.
This post is all about the Golden Rule found in the New Testament of the Bible. Jesus said to his disciples, “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” The warmth you receive is a gift that you have freely received and which you are to freely share. It will change your life! You will begin seeing possibilities you had never before seen.
May you be blessed in this reading