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MY SUNDAY JOURNAL
By Dalton Roberts
An IPS Feature
1-13-02
LOVING & "PUTTING UP WITH"
Someone has said, "Nothing is this world is so rare as a person one
can always put up with."
I have found this to be true. You can love people you can't live with.
You can admire their many good qualities but if there's something there
you know you can't permanently put up with, you better shuck the
situation and move on. It will badger you like the Chinese water
treatment.
There are many things we may not like about any person we love. Everyone
has ways that are different than ours. And different values. So long as
those ways of being don't drive you bananas, sure, you can live with
them and be happy. But if there's something there that you know you
cannot accept over the long haul, it's better to call U Haul.
One of the most wonderful experiences in this life is to find friends or
lovers we can always put up with who can always put up with us. One
friend like that can save your sanity.
EXAMINING OUR CONSCIENCE
In a speech in Australia, Prince Charles said, "A country free
enough to examine it's own conscience is a land worth living in, a
nation to be envied."
After the terrorist attacks, some dared to ask us to examine the way we
have treated Arabs and poor people all over the world. At first, I
resented any line of thought that took attention away from the awfulness
of the terrorist actions.
I still see no possible justification for the attacks but it has been
good for me to look at our foreign policies and see where we have come
up short. We enjoy such a high standard of living – and yes, I know
we've worked for it – that we forget the thousands who starve to death
every day. Our spirituality as a nation will not be deeply respected
until we are more sensitive and act more decisively on such humanitarian
fronts. And yes, I also know we do more for more people all over the
world than any nation in history and I am so proud of that!
I want to be just as proud of America's social conscience as I am of our
economic prowess. As long as there is one starving child in any town of
this or any other country, I don't want to be content.
America is a Christian nation. It is also a Buddhist nation. And a Hindu
nation. And a Native American nation, and a (hold your hat) Muslim
nation. It is the most glorious melting pot of colors and creeds in the
history of humankind. And I want to see them all agree on making America
a more caring nation.
The terrorists hurt us. Real bad. They killed thousands of innocent
people, including many Muslims who worked in those buildings. I want
them all caught and dealt with. But can't we let our own pain alert us
to be more sensitive to the pain of all people in all places on this
planet?
When I sing. "God Bless America," my prayer is that God will
bless me with a bigger heart. As the prayer of Jabez asks, "Enlarge
my territory," meaning soul and not land.
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