Let There Be Peace On Earth, And Let It Begin With Me

There is a Chinese proverb which states if there is righteousness in the heart, there will be beauty in the character. If there is beauty in the character, there will be harmony in the home. If there is harmony in the home, there will be order in the nation. When there is order in the nation, there will be peace throughout the world.

I feel this proverb holds many truths. One is that prejudices start in the home, and it is sadly still alive. A Caucasian child does not hate an Asian or African-American child or vice versa, until these adult prejudices are instilled into them. And what has been instilled from babyhood on, bears a deep impression on how we accept different races, and people in general. Many of us, even if we dont want to admit it, can accept people differently. This even holds true for our prejudices towards the elderly, the sick, and the poor.

God/Jesus wants us to love one another, and not give into our differences. He teaches us how to be good towards everyone:

We will remember what He taught us about the elderly:
Leviticus 19:32 "You shall stand up before the gray head and honor the face of an old man, and you shall fear your God: I am the Lord."

We will remember what He taught us about the sick:
Matthew 10:5-11 "These twelve Jesus sent out, instructing them....Go rather to the lost sheep of the House of Israel. Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and cast out demons..."

And we will remember (one of my favorite) this passage about all who are unfortunate:
Matthew 25:42-46 "For I was hungry, and you wouldn't feed me; thirsty and you wouldn't give Me anything to drink; a stranger and you refused Me hospitality; naked and you wouldn't clothe Me; sick and in prison and you didn't visit Me;....And I will answer, "When you refused to help the least of these, my brorthers, you were refusing to help Me".

Peace comes in many forms. To name a few: when we receive Jesus in the Holy Sacrament, when we pray deeply in an adoration chapel, when we help those less fortunate, when we make a good confession and even a daily reflection.

Through a good confession, we Catholics can obtain reconciliation, but also peace, and peace can also occur from our daily reflections Although many of us do this, we should perhaps( I and you) --- think what we did, said, or thought that day, that needs enlightenment to become the person Jesus wants us to be.

Did we ever agree with a co-worker who said that a certain person was unattractive, or our sister-in-law who said that the poor just want a hand-out, or that we said to a sick friend that he could get out of the sickness if he had a stronger faith in God, or agreed with our boss who said that elderly people drain too much of our health care expenses and euthanization should be accepted, or even at a different stage in our lives, agreed with a stranger that said there are too many people in the world and that abortion should be allowed for those who dont have the money or time to take care of a child?

Determination and a humble, kind heart are needed to see the other side. To understand the other person's circumstances- please try to put yourself mentally, or even physically, in their position:

---Pretend you have no money, are destitute, and that you have to try to obtain safe, violent-free permanent shelter, food stamps, and money to pay bills. It can be difficult, and laborious to come by. Volunteering in a soup kitchen, women's shelter, or a charity that helps disadvantaged people can give you insight.

---Pretend you suddenly become physically ill, and disabled and you have to try to obtain a job, try to find a date, or even keep the friends you had. For many, it is very hard You could consider volunteering in a VA Hospital department with disabled veterans, in a rehab clinic/hospital, or a disability office.

---Pretend you are elderly, walk with a walker or crutches, are bent over, single, and need to do everything by yourself. Not as many people, organizations, or churches will help, as you would think they would. Volunteering in a nursing home, senior center, or seeking out neighbors that are elderly, and need help can be rewarding for both individuals.

---Pretend, or better still, apply facial coloring to look like an African American person. Drive a Mercedes into a populated city in a poor but safe end of town, and see if you might not be stopped and profiled?

---Put a few of these "taboo situations" together e.g. being elderly, physically ill, no family left- adult orphan, African-American, and destitute, and you can have a very tragic situation if people/cities don't help. One would think that communities would come together to help these people. Often they don't-because they dont know, don't observe their environment, and in some cases don't feel anyone else is their responsibility. There are too many people among us that are like this. However, these good senior/ill/destitute people become isolated, sad and hopeless. Too often, the community shuns them, forgets them, and even criticizes them as though they did something wrong, and don't deserve help. Even Christians can sometimes wrongly believe, that the reason that the person came to this situation, was their own fault. More often, that is completely untrue, and this person is just an unfortunate product of bad circumstances.

There are so many neglected, poor, elderly and ill people in our communities. If you think the social workers and cities have the time, resources, and are taking care of all these people, and you don't need to- please do think again. If we would only take the time to look and help them, the world would be a better place. Please try to search people like this out in your neigborhood, and ask them how you can assist them. They are there and waiting, and need help before it is too late. People who reach out and help the unfortunate, have more peace in their souls, sleep better, the unfortunate people are very grateful for helping them (even if they don't always express it), and God's happiness with them is tremendous.

My prayer would be, if only every person would say and act:

Let there be peace on earth,
Let my mind, eyes, and lips not discriminate or be prejudiced against anyone,
Let me assist, wherever I can, with whatever I can, to help not only my own family, but the less fortunate,
Let me today help those who need someone's help, as tomorrow I may need someone's help,
Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me.