Jesus said in reply,
“Ten were cleansed, were they not?
Where are the other nine?
Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?”
Then he said to him, “Stand up and go;
your faith has saved you.”
~ Luke 17:17-19
There is so much anger and vitriol in the world today.
The internet is thick with disparaging and demeaning words.
Words that are meant to hurt, to harm and to destroy people or their reputations.
I hate to think how these ugly words merely reflect the ugliness in people’s hearts.
“Lord, have pity on us.”
With the ugliness in their hearts, people have also made their environment ugly.
The vile and the awful around us is but a reflection of what is within us.
The wars and the violence, the anger and the revenge but an echo of what we feel.
We have thrashed the world and we have made ourselves ugly.
It was a beautiful world when I gave it you, was it not?
You were beautiful when I created you, were you not?
I cannot change the world but I can do little things.
Like, I can choose to see the goodness and beauty around me, no matter how small,
and not add anymore to the evil and ugliness already in the world.
I will choose to speak words that heal and forgive,
instead of uttering words that hurt and destroy.
I believe in the power of the light to dispel the darkness;
I believe in the power of love to conquer hatred and anger;
I believe that life is stronger than death and that all my blessings spring forth from the fact that I am alive.
I shall stand up and go and let my faith save me.
Like, I can choose to see the goodness and beauty around me, no matter how small,
and not add anymore to the evil and ugliness already in the world.
I will choose to speak words that heal and forgive,
instead of uttering words that hurt and destroy.
I believe in the power of the light to dispel the darkness;
I believe in the power of love to conquer hatred and anger;
I believe that life is stronger than death and that all my blessings spring forth from the fact that I am alive.
I shall stand up and go and let my faith save me.