How Exactly Does Love Win?

BillyHillHere has not posted in awhile but, it is time.

First a Little Story
There was a man one day that had captured the hearts and attention of quite a few people in his country.  Often times he would sit on a hill side and talk to his fellow countrymen about various topics.  Lets refer to this man as the teacher.  One day a lawyer in the crowd spoke out and asked the teacher a question.  Ignoring any motivations behind the question, the question was rather simple and plane - what is most important?  The teacher did not answer the lawyer, but rather said, you are an educated man, what are your thoughts?  Like a true lawyer, never at a loss for words, the lawyer said loving God with all your heart is most important, and  loving your neighbor.  The teacher nodded and told the lawyer he was correct.  But, being a lawyer and all, they inquisitive fellow could not let it stop there and so he asked, so, who exactly is my neighbor?  And this is where the story gets interesting because, rather than answering the question, the teacher told a little story (paraphrased with BillHill vernacular) that went like this . . .

A man was walking along the road and came across some badass dudes that beat the crap out of him, robbed him, and left him half naked and almost dead laying on the side of the road.  But soon after, a religious man came walking by and saw him laying there.  And I dunno, this passerby could have been a republican or a democrat politically, but whatever the case may be, this passerby saw a mess and burden and he simply did not want to get involved and so, he simply passed by on the other side of the street.  Fortunately, another man came walking by, and this cat was a well-connected upper middle class kind of guy.  I am not sure if the victim could see him approaching or not, I don't know if he could even cry out for help, but nonetheless, this well-to-do fellow also saw a mess, a time suck, and he just did not want to get involved and so he too passed by on the other side of the street.  Finally, an outcast of society came walking by.  And you can paint the picture of what this outcast was based on your own ideologies.  You could call him an illegal alien, a homeless person, a person with different political persuasions as you, or whatever.  The point here is that this person saw the man in need and took it upon himself to set aside his schedule, his agenda, his comfort and reach out and help some stranger that was in need.  He did not ask the victim who he voted for, he did not ask if the victim had insurance, he did not ask if the victim had a means to make payment for being helped, he did not ask if the victim had connections or if the victim needed to borrow his cellphone and call for help.  He simply rolled up his sleeves, tended to the victims wounds and carried him to a safe place.

The teacher then turned to the lawyer and asked "who do you think acted neighborly here?".  The lawyer gave the obvious answer - I guess the outcast guy.  The teacher then replied "well, be like that".  In essence, the teacher was telling the lawyer that he was asking the wrong question.  If you are loving God and loving your neighbor, don't ask who your neighbor is, because everyone you come in contact with is your neighbor.  Instead, just be a good neighbor or stated a different way, just love everyone.

Who is going to throw the first stone?

On another day, the teacher found himself in a crowd of people that had found a lady who cheated on her husband.  The law of the land said that the punishment for her was to be killed by hurling stones at her.  The crowd asked the teacher what they should do.  The teacher did not renounce the law, he simply said "let the person that is without sin throw the first stone".  One by one the crowd dropped their stones and walked away.

What would BillyHill do?

The climate in this world sucks.  Everyone is quick to judge and condemn.  And BillyHill has to confess, he also is not immune to this activity.  In fact, BillyHill has passed by on the other side of the road on many occasions and also stood in a crowd with a stone in his hand ready to cast judgement on people that he has never met, never sat down with them to hear their story, never tried to understand their hurts, pains, wounds . . .  It may not be a literal stone, but BillyHill has cast words that were equally as damaging.  And BillyHill does not care who you think this "teacher" is, just a man, the Son of God, a tree hugger, or whatever.  What he said just makes sense.  And so, BillyHill cannot unsay what he has said (other than selectively deleting social media posts) but the words have been delivered, to stones were cast, and there is no way to actually determine the damage that ensued.  But today, BillyHill is opening his fingers and letting the stone drop from his hand.  But he does not want to walk away with the crowd, silenced by the simple truth of the teacher.  Nope.  BillyHill wants to walk up to the person, without any magic words, without any ability to understand this other person and simply say

"you matter and you are not alone, regardless of our differences and views in life, I am standing with you, right in the zone where the stones may be hurled, because you matter.  And you may not like me because of my ideologies, but I don't care, because at the end of the day, everyone matters and I can learn from you, love you, and stand with you.  And if you never learn from me, love me, or stand with me, or even try to understand me, that is not relevant.  The teacher did not say 'be loved by your neighbors', he just said to love them.'  "

And so, this BillyHill persona that was created almost 4 years ago to be a badass voice in a politically correct world is sitting down, pouring himself a bourbon, and is deciding to love his neighbor.  He may screw up from time to time, but the last 4 years of pondering this simple concept have had an impact on this Kentucky man.  He now finds himself surrounded by wonderful friends that do not share is ideologies, political views, economic views and principles.  But, as he looks past the garments of those he is surrounded by, he finds that he is within a host of the most treasured friendships he has ever had.  He has found that spreading love rather than harshness, rigidness, even hatefulness has an incredibly beneficial side effect - he meets more people, he receives more acceptance, he is happier and his friendships are greatly enriched.

BillyHillHere
As always, I like it neat.