Today is Maundy Thursday and we had a communion service at Church tonight. Since I sing in the choir, and we were singing I went. Thats 2 days in a row for me! I had no idea what Maundy Thursday even meant. So I asked. There happened to be a young girl in the choir room that is going through confirmation classes and she knew. None of us adults really did. Apparently, Maundy is latin for mandatory. Maundy Thursday was the day of the Last Supper, when Jesus ate with the disciples and "said his goodbyes" in so many words. He left them with a mandatory (which means you have to do it) commandment...to Love thy neighbor.
I do my best to follow that commandment. But sometimes there are people that are really difficult to love. For example, I have to grit my teeth and draw on all my kindness reserves when sales people somehow find and call my cell phone trying to sell me something and continue to talk when you politely say no.
Or the former co-worker of mine who for whatever reason gave my CELL PHONE number to the place she borrowed money from and who is trying to hunt her down. No matter how many times I have told them that I have no information about her, they continue to call me almost every day.
Or the woman who was cursing at her child the other day on the walking path because he wasn't walking fast enough.
Or the person who honked at me the milisecond the light turned green. Give me time to put my foot on the gas for crying out loud!!
There are just a lot of unlovable people in the world. But it doesn't matter because we still are supposed to love them. Actually, I have mastered this pretty well through the years. I harbor no unforgiveness (well maybe a smidgeon) toward anyone. I can usually find a nugget of good in most people,even the ones that make it a huge undertaking to do so.
Whenever someone is rude or hateful or even mean I just remind myself that there may be something going on in their life that is causing them to lash out. I try not to take it personally.
During the sermon tonight the Pastor was talking about how Jesus didn't discriminate in regard to who he loved. He even shared that Last Supper with someone he knew was going to betray him. I had one of those laughing and I can't stop moments when he asked when the last time we ate with someone that had betrayed us was. Without even thinking and way too loudly I said aloud, that would be my ex-husband last December.
Which was really not a very nice thing to say because the reality of it is I actually like my ex-husband and harbor no ill will for him. Or his wife. Ok, I admit I did call her the a really bad name for a period of time but I got past that, have forgiven and moved on. I even include them in my prayers. After all, they are a big part of my sons' lives and to be unkind to them would hurt my sons.
So today as I reflect on Maundy Thursday and the Last Supper and the love that Christ had for us, I am encouraged and challenged to do a better job at keeping that mandatory commandment. Love one another. Harder sometimes than you think, but worth it in the long run.
I love you my friends....truly! LeeAnn
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