What's in Your Bucket?

“Be imitators of God, as beloved children; and walk in love...”  – Ephesians 5:1-2 

In the 1990 movie ‘Ghost,’ when Sam is being called to heaven, he says to Molly, “It’s incredible, Molly. All the love inside you? You take it with you.”

I was thinking about this scene not too long ago and an image came to mind that I’d like to share with you:

 

I imagined I was walking toward heaven and approaching Jesus. I noticed I was carrying a bucket in each hand. I thought of the 1 Corinthians 13 passage that starts out, ‘Love is patient, love is kind.’ I looked down at the buckets and saw that each one was filled with all my attitudes and actions that were not loving, like impatience. 

Jesus had his arms outstretched to welcome and embrace me; I wanted to run to Him, but I couldn’t get to Him because the buckets were dragging me down. And even if I could have reached Him, I couldn’t have hugged Him back because I was still holding onto those buckets. So, instead of taking a heart full of love to heaven, as Sam described in the movie, I wasn’t able to get close to Jesus because I was carrying those buckets full of junk.

God wants us to be with Him for all eternity. Since God is love, then heaven can contain only love, not the kind of junk I was carrying. Since God is everywhere, then when we let His love immerse us and we share it with others, we can catch glimpses of heaven here, in this life. Then, when our time on earth is over, God will be waiting with open arms to welcome us, and we’ll experience the magnitude of His love when we share eternal life with Him. 

Since heaven contains only love, we can experience heaven only if we ask Him to forgive us and help us get rid of all that is not loving, everything that’s weighing us down and hindering His loving work in us. Then our hearts will be open to receive a new outpouring of His Spirit in us so that we, in turn, can extend our hands to others in love, forgiveness, and service. 

We’re now halfway through Lent. Now is a good time to look at what we’re carrying around with us in our spiritual ‘buckets.’ Now is the time to empty those buckets – our hearts, minds, and souls – from all that is not loving. Now is the time to ask God to free us from whatever hinders us from loving Him and the people around us, and make room for more of everything that is love: patience, kindness, and all the rest.

“Lord, help me get rid of those unloving attitudes and actions that weigh me down and keep me separated from You.”

Thank you for reading my reflection. © 2023 Gina Bedell     Comments are always welcome! 

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You Never Know

Even from a distance in the checkout line I could hear the commotion. Walking toward the exit, I saw a woman near the doorway waving her arms and shouting at an employee, her language venomous. Her partner stood at her side, neither encouraging nor discouraging her rampage.

“Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a harder battle.” – Plato

They say that ‘hurt people hurt people’ and that anger is a response to other emotions. Who knows? Maybe that woman had just received some bad news and was hurting inside. Maybe what she was really expressing was fear, or frustration, or helplessness over an unrelated situation. Or, perhaps the employee actually was at fault and the customer had never been taught how to handle or express her emotions. Maybe that wouldn’t excuse her behavior -- but it could explain it.

The lesson of ‘be considerate and don’t criticize because we usually don’t know where someone is coming from’ hit home to me soon after my mom passed away nearly 25 years ago. I was in a grocery store and caught my reflection in a window. It startled me: my face looked angry and mean. I felt sad, not mad, yet anyone looking at me wouldn’t have known that.

When we consider these and other possibilities, we let go of our pride and critical mindset and become more understanding and sympathetic.

Putting ourselves in other people’s shoes helps us to be patient. Have you ever had to rush to the hospital? The car speeding past you might be headed there, too – you never know. The greatest thing to do is ask our Lord to bless them.

You’re trying to be and do your best. Sometimes life’s challenges affect your words and actions; the same is true for all of us. We never know what someone may be going through. Trying to maintain an attitude of kindness will keep open the door to peace, in ourselves and those around us.

“Love is patient, love is kind… love never fails.” --1 Corinthians 13:4, 8

 

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