Love your enemies

The New Testament Bible reading from the Revised Common Lectionary for yesterday, Sunday February 25, 2018 was Luke 6: 27-37.

“But to you who are listening I say: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you. If someone slaps you on one cheek, turn to them the other also. If someone takes your coat, do not withhold your shirt from them. Give to everyone who asks you, and if anyone takes what belongs to you, do not demand it back. Do to others as you would have them do to you. “If you love those who love you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners love those who love them. And if you do good to those who are good to you, what credit is that to you? Even sinners do that. And if you lend to those from whom you expect repayment, what credit is that to you? Even sinners lend to sinners, expecting to be repaid in full. But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked. Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful."

This is Jesus talking and it is the continuation of the Beatitudes found in verses 20-26.

Jesus is preaching about loving those that don't return your love.  

As in Jesus's time, we live an a divided time.  Us against them.  These words, Jesus's words, should be considered by all, but especially those that call themselves Christian.

• Always forgive your enemies;  nothing annoys them so much.  – Oscar Wilde

Girl Friends

Here is the second in a series of interviews that I am calling Reed's Ramblings - The Audio Series.

It was recorded at Dad & Mom's house in Calico Rock on Sunday afternoon February 17, 2019.   Dad is the main story teller here but mom was also at the table with us.

Early in the program I reference one of Dad's Ramblin's, which was a series of essay's written by dad for the White River Current back in 2012 to 2015.   The essay is titled "Girl Friends (Old Age) but is really about meeting mom.   You can read the essay here.

hbd! - Galileo Galilei

Galileo Galilei, the great astronomer was born on this day in 1564.  In honor of his birthday, here are a couple of great quotes:

"The sun, with all those planets revolving around it and dependent on it, can still ripen a bunch of grapes as if it had nothing else in the universe to do."

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason, and intellect has intended us to forgo their use."

Leadership/Life Maxim - 2 new ones

I added two new Leadership/Life Maxims to my list this week:

I came across this one somewhere on Linkedin.   There are many variations but simply put:

• Never argue with someone that believes their own lies.

And then from my friend Duke Naiphon who is a prolific Instagram poster:

• Don't count on the advice of your dime friends to make dollar decisions.

In a follow-up post to my liking his Instagram post of this maxim and that I was adding it to my list, Duke said this:

"It's an original quote.  Feel free to use it.  To clarify, I'm referencing relying on the advice of people who have only a small perspective of or experience (dime) relating to your larger problem (dollar).  Although their intentions are "good", poor counsel is disastrous when you rely on your dime friends advice."