I do not believe in "wishes", per se, but I find myself beginning sentences with "I just wish...." all the time! So, I thought, maybe, if I put good things out there in words, since words matter, that perhaps some of my wishes would come true. For a while, this will be a series as I have far more than 3 things for which to wish.
Some things I wish are lofty, I wish no one was hungry, for instance. Some things I wish are petty, even selfish...like, I wish I did not have to work full time. But, mostly, I wish we could all live up to the standards and dreams previous generations held for us. That is what we do, afterall. We hope our kids do better and their kids succeed even more and that generation after generation builds on our wisdom and tradition and improves the world. So, here goes:
I wish everyone knew how much God loves them. I wish they realized that He gave His son as our Savior and that there is nothing we can do to separate ourselves from His love. I wish they would stop assuming that Christians are pious hypocrites who judge everyone all the time. I wish they understood that those who truly follow Christ are flawed and fail; but, when they do they repent and get up and get back in the race. I wish the world knew we were Christians by our love. Our love for God and His church and His creation and His Son and even people who do not know Him. That is my first wish.
I wish parents understood the rare and precious gift a child is. I wish more parents understood that it is a responsibility, but also an honor and a privilege to be entrusted to care for a child. I wish women valued motherhood and men longed to be fathers. I wish every child born had a set of parents so committed to God and each other that they had nothing to fear. That is my second wish.
I wish Americans respected the founders and the Constitution. I wish we lived in the present with historical values. I wish we boldly expressed our first amendment rights to assemble and speak without fear of retribution and that we would enjoy robust debate and the opportunity to learn. I wish we could agree to disagree, that we all would want the USA to be strong and successful even if we had different visions of the path to get there. That is my third wish.
Wishing, though, won't make it so. No, to make these wishes come true more people who share them will have to team up, speak out, dive in, and get down to the business of letting our lights shine. Our fellow citizens need to be confronted with Christians who actively love Christ, parents who unconditionally love their children, and Americans who unashamedly love their country. May we all decide to pick up that mantle.
Comments