KIND CRUELTY

This is the pattern of the frozen water in our pond.

Reading the words of Jesus they often seem cruel and harsh.  When his mother and brothers come to find him he ignores them and says instead:  Whoever does God's will is my brother and sister and mother."

Maybe a good Jewish boy does not tell his mom he has his own life to live?  But still hurtful words.

I have been reading the book "Little Princess". It is about a young man who goes to volunteer at a children's home in Nepal.  'Child traffickers were promising families in remote villages to protect their children from the civil war-for a huge fee-by taking them to safety".  Of course they families want the children to go to a better place and even be educated.  What happens is the children are abandoned and left to beg on the streets.  The author works at an orphanage with these children.

He decides to travel to these mountain villages to see if he can find their parents.  He finds some of the parents to tell them their children are safe but then he has to be harsh and tell them they must not sell their children because they are ending up being abandoned or sold into slavery.

Child-traffickers are deceiving and abusing both the parents and the children.  This is devastating news to the parents who are glad to know their children are safe, but must face the cruel truth of their deception.

"I watched them come alive when I told them their children were safe.
I watched them die a little as they relived the loss of their child to a child trafficker."
Conor Grennan in the book "The Little Princes."

Jesus says words that seem cruel to me but I think there is a reason for what he is saying.  We live in a world where bad things can happen to good people.  Life can be tough and we must be tough to cope with our own errors and the bullies and deceivers in this world.

I have to learn to stay calm inside when things go wrong.  I dropped a whole plate of lovely cooked fish on the floor, the plate broke and the fish was uneatable.  Actually I did not even have the energy to be mad. 

Anyway this morning I will have a quick walk, a quicker bath and off to the doctor.
I am doing fine just a bit tired.
Dad had a good report at the skin doctors.  Good News !

HAPPY BIRTHDAY CAROL