If you are not obsessed with the Netflix series, The Crown, as I am, please forgive this opening. When Season 3 was released, I found myself a little agitated that my life and world needed to go on and I wasn’t able to snuggle in on the couch with a blanket to binge the entire season.
During the opening segment of Episode 7, The Queen and her husband are talking about the fact that the Americans have requested Her Majesty to record a message to the astronauts headed to the moon. When he asked why this request was made, she explained that many world leaders had been asked to do so. She said it was an effort to bring the world together for the benefit of all mankind.
I started thinking about what actually benefits all mankind. During this week especially, a week when our country takes a break from regular life to focus on our blessings and what we are thankful for in our lives, I am reminded of how much I do that is really only a benefit to me.
I’d like to think that in my life of richness and abundance, I share much of what I have been given. And I do give…we give. My family gives our money and time to church and charity but whether or not it is for the benefit of all mankind, I sometimes wonder.
I was talking to children this weekend, as I do every weekend, at church about how God loves his children so much that he couldn’t stand the thought of being separated from them – from us. He knew we had made a choice to choose sin over a relationship and it broke his heart. So God sent his one and only son, Jesus, to be born, to live, and to die as a sacrifice for our sin. We no longer have a separation between God and ourselves because, God, for the benefit of all mankind, loved us so much.
God shared his love. As I evaluate my life, so full of blessings, the question isn’t about how much I give but how much I share. Giving is easy. Giving can be done anonymously and without heart. Sharing is personal. Sharing takes thought and purpose.
So as I enter this season of thanks, this season of holy waiting on the celebration of Jesus, I want to walk into each day with eyes open to the world around me. I want to open my ears what is said and what is left unsaid. I want to lean into the tears of friends, the laughter around tables, the silences in the corners of parties. I want to share my heart and my hand when love is what is really what would be the benefit of the moment.