Dear Friends of Longview Chapel,
This past weekend, Heather Cox Richardson wrote about her “Papa,” her friend’s dad who made a huge impact in her life. He taught her skills and showed her how to live a life fully. Her “Papa” was Kenneth Edward Nyboe. He was born in 1924 in New York City and served in WW II in George Patton’s third army. He would later work for the U.S. Navy helping to create what some would call “simple” solutions to problems that needed a clear, direct mind to solve them.
Among the things “Papa” always said was, “there was nothing anyone couldn’t work out, so long as they talked to each other honestly.”
These words caught my attention today as I read them and was thinking about compassion – understanding and recognizing another’s struggling and suffering. Part of compassion is at least being honest about another’s struggles and the origins of those struggles, and at some point, it may also mean speaking honestly about causes and challenges. Talking honestly requires a large amount of vulnerability, and I think it also requires hope – hope that things can in fact be better, that we can in fact help to build God’s Kingdom here on earth as it is in heaven.
There are so many concerns here and around the world. Sometimes we may feel what some have called “compassion fatigue.” How do we begin to listen and to speak honestly and to act with integrity?
I shared in Sunday’s sermons Henri Nowen’s questions to ask ourselves each day. I believe that saying, “yes!” to even some of these may help us to live lives with greater love and compassion. Those questions are:
“Did I offer peace today?
Did I bring a smile to someone’s face?
Did I say words of healing?
Did I let go of my anger and resentment?
Did I forgive?
Did I love?
These are the real questions. I must trust that the little bit of love that I sow now will bear many fruits. Here in this world and in the life to come.”
May our lives be lived in such a way that people today in generations to come will remember us and our actions with thanksgiving and a smile.
Building Memories with You,
Pastor Donna