Rejoice With Those Who Rejoice, and Weep With Those Who Weep! The Bible

(This post is just a whole lot of Stream of Consciousness, in other words, random thoughts!)

My sister, Tracy, and I!

If you have been reading this blog for awhile, you know that I have been reading The One Year Bible, and for those who are new to this blog, I am in the second year of reading The One Year Bible. After the first year of reading it, I was not going to read it again, but my sister, Tracy, convinced me that when I read it this time, I would see things that I did not see before. She was right, I see things this time that I did not see before, and I am more connected to the word than ever before.

The Bible!

The above passage is taken from Romans 12:10-18. I took a picture of this page from my Bible, and I read it quite often. I normally mediate on verse 15, and for some reason, it gives me peace.

Verse 15 is so important to me and it states to "rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep." Now this one is very easy for me, and I love to practice it. I love deeply; when I am in your corner, I am in your corner. I will fight with you, laugh with you, cry with you, dance with you, run with you, encourage you, tell you the truth as I know it. However, when I am not in your corner, I am not in your corner. PERIOD! (I am a work in progress.)

I am in a period in my life where I am reflecting more and thinking about what it is that I want to contribute to the world daily, and one thing that I know that I can do is to be present with myself and people whom I love, and God knows that I try to do this. I am working on being the best listener that I can be, not offering unsolicited advice, walking in another person's shoes, really rejoicing when others rejoice and weeping when others weep.

One of my friends called me the other night, and I could hear the worry and stress in her voice. I listened and empathized, and I wanted us to go to battle and solve this dilemma and bring her peace right away, but I had to remember to weep when others weep. So, I went in that dark place with her, and then we were able to think and talk things through and end the conversation in a lighter place knowing that everything works out just the way that it is suppose to.

My biggest weakness is wanting to jump straight to solutions, because I hate feeling my pain and the pain of others. I know that there is growth in pain, and it is important to feel it and move on. As I am gaining more wisdom, the pain is more intense, but so is the joy. So, I guess it's true that joy and pain are cousins.

There is this guy whom I went to Tuskegee with, Jahmal, and he puts the greatest quotes on his Facebook status. Well, today his quote really spoke to my heart: "You learn to speak by speaking, to study by studying, to run by running, to work by working; in just the same way, you learn to love by loving" by Antaole France. The first thing that came to my mind is that life is about doing, not sitting. This quote shows us that action is required in this life. We must do in order to have. "A dream comes through much activity."

Love is an action word to me. I show love through asking someone to bike with me, showing up when my friends want me or need me to be present, sending random text just to check on someone etc. One of my favorite ways to show love to my mother is by cooking for her, washing her clothes, taking her to her favorite place; the bank etc. Nothing in this world brings me more joy. On the other hand, she knows when I visit I need to exercise, hangout, and lay on her couch. The thing about our love is that I feel no pressure to do things for her, I do because I want too. She makes me feel free to do things for her, and she understands and supports my need to exercise and fellowship. I feel so free when I visit my momma.  As stated by Paulo Coelho from Eleven Minutes: "Freedom only exists when love is present."

Tonight, I am reflecting on love and showing love through "Rejoicing when others rejoice, and weeping when others weep."