Being a South African I have been reading a lot of posts about why South Africans living in South Africa are in the worst place ever, and others about why they are in the best place ever. The arguments go around who has the worst crime rates, poor services, corrupt officials, best weather, best food, best outdoor lifestyle and beaches. While their intention is to encourage you to either jump ship or remain in the pot with the other frogs, the arguments are pretty futile. While the points of contention remain the same you could be comparing Bangladesh and USA, Australia and Indonesia, wherever in the world. The reality is found in the saying - 'The grass is always greener on the other side'.
No matter where you are from there will be discontent. This is because the world is a broken place. When we can come to admit things are broken we can look at fixing them. My youngest daughter is now 6 months old and inspects and plays with anything you give her - a brand new shiny toy is as interesting to her as a crinkly plastic bag. I do hope that as she grows up she will be able to distinguish between the two. It is a sign of maturing thought when we can recognise the world is imperfect and no matter where we are there is a purpose for us. To embrace that purpose is to love your neighbourhood. When I begin to love my neighbourhood I begin to find joy in my community and I stop looking over the fence; stop yearning for the green yard over the wall.
But there's a problem - as soon as I begin to work in the community I find that people are so difficult - they are such poor money managers, they play their music late at night and they don't really talk quite as well as I do. Some of them swear, some of them go to work early in the morning and make lots of money and drive big expensive cars that destroy the ozone layer and others sit on their welfare state, producing children by the dozen! If only they could be more like me! Well here's a truth for you Mr Home Hopper, Mr Billy Goat grass is always greener. You aren't all that lovely yourself! In fact how often have you been that troll under the bridge, stopping and hindering others from developing and improving? Perhaps the change can begin with you. Yes Michael Jackson sang it but did you listen? The man in the mirror needs to change, and that change is your heart. You need to start loving WITHOUT expect of a return - that means the other person doesn't have to say 'thank you'! They don't have to respond to your birthday gift by buying you one and they may even push in front of you in the queue at ASDA! What, your heart? The term 'HEART' is an old one - it means with every fibre of your being. In order to love your neighbourhood you need to change into a person that loves with their whole heart ie. your attitude to others, to any situation (good or bad) is LOVE, and that you value others as if they were yourself.
The discontent that you have is based on your awareness that there must be a better place - you would do well to read the bible - it says there is a paradise and that there's a way to get there - maybe in finding that you will look more tenderly on this one. To move to greener pastures is to leave others in poorer one's. Yes the time may come, but I hope that you aren't just leaving without loving.
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| London beach |
But there's a problem - as soon as I begin to work in the community I find that people are so difficult - they are such poor money managers, they play their music late at night and they don't really talk quite as well as I do. Some of them swear, some of them go to work early in the morning and make lots of money and drive big expensive cars that destroy the ozone layer and others sit on their welfare state, producing children by the dozen! If only they could be more like me! Well here's a truth for you Mr Home Hopper, Mr Billy Goat grass is always greener. You aren't all that lovely yourself! In fact how often have you been that troll under the bridge, stopping and hindering others from developing and improving? Perhaps the change can begin with you. Yes Michael Jackson sang it but did you listen? The man in the mirror needs to change, and that change is your heart. You need to start loving WITHOUT expect of a return - that means the other person doesn't have to say 'thank you'! They don't have to respond to your birthday gift by buying you one and they may even push in front of you in the queue at ASDA! What, your heart? The term 'HEART' is an old one - it means with every fibre of your being. In order to love your neighbourhood you need to change into a person that loves with their whole heart ie. your attitude to others, to any situation (good or bad) is LOVE, and that you value others as if they were yourself.
The discontent that you have is based on your awareness that there must be a better place - you would do well to read the bible - it says there is a paradise and that there's a way to get there - maybe in finding that you will look more tenderly on this one. To move to greener pastures is to leave others in poorer one's. Yes the time may come, but I hope that you aren't just leaving without loving.
