love all, trust a few, do wrong to none

I finally watched episode 10 of Doctor Who this weekend. It was written by one of my favourite people, Richard Curtis. I was prompted to go online and seek out some interviews… which then inspired me to go back to my favorite Curtis creation, The Vicar of Dibley. I tried to find a clip to put on here. Of course the second episode (where Songs of Praise come to film Geraldine for the BBC) seems to be the ONE that isn’t on youtube. Go figure. But I’ll do my best to paraphrase a quote that stuck with me. Geraldine is giving her sermon, describing the resistance to the fact she is a female vicar. The silly little things over which people worry. Then she makes a point that people get so caught up worrying about these little things, they forget to pay attention to the big things – how to help those who need help, how much to love people, and how much to show your love to people. 

The dialogue was swiftly interrupted by a joke, but the truth of it stayed with me. Stays with me. Almost 24 hours later. We make our minds and motivations busy with these silly little arguments and completely forget the big things. The important things. The very reasons (I believe) we are alive.

I think this resonated with me because of something that happened in the Supreme Court yesterday. Something about which I have thought to write a blog… but lack the devotion to post my anger these days. And yet, as much as it makes me angry, it really makes me very sad that the Supreme Court decided to uphold the second amendment against gun control laws. 

Quite often my working day is filled with stories of violence in schools. Bullying that gets out of control. And… well, that influences my attitude on guns. Almost completely. I don’t have a kid… and honestly, I hear these stories and it stops that biological clock from ticking. Because… why bring an innocent child into this world when they have to face that? It isn’t just the inner city. It isn’t just minorities. And, hell, it isn’t just in schools.

But I’m not going to repeat the stories I hear. Proponents of the RIGHT to bear arms have an equal number of statistics and arguments. And anyway, my reference to Dibley has nothing to do with that tangent. It just made me think… that in a world where life is so brief, so so so so so short, why are we fighting over a little thing like being able to carry a gun? In a coffee shop? At a political rally? Just to prove that we can? Isn’t that… petty? Isn’t that… why? Why when life is so beautiful? Do we really have to shoot that gun to wake ourselves up to the value of breath? I fail to grasp that logic.

I fail to grasp so many of the little fights we create in society today. They are distractions. Things that really… make no sense when one thinks of those three things mentioned by the vicar. If helping people is a primary motivation, why should we argue against government spending i.e. the employment of a teacher, the solidity of a police force, the safety of a road? If loving other people is a value, why do we always, always judge people for not being like us? If we love people, can we not embrace their differences? Better yet, accept love as love? And not condemn it as a sin because it doesn’t fit in the same box as our own love? And showing love… well… maybe we should listen to one another and stop shouting our negativity. Then we might see the world and each other for the beauty that we possess.

Obviously the world is more complicated than this. I’m not the president, having to make a tough decision about a war. Or an economy. Or an oil spill. But in my own little world… I should strive to love more, give more… forgive… and listen more. Because life IS short. Time slips by with so little warning. People leave this planet. Circumstances change. Money diminishes. But… there is always love. And there is always someone who needs help more than I need to be greedy or self-pitying.

But… here’s the thing… the vicar of Dibley didn’t say this stuff first. Her ideas actually come from that book, the Bible. So… really, with so many people in this world placing that book above all others, wouldn’t it make sense if people lived that way?

They don’t. So… guess it’s a good thing I can go back to Dibley and laugh.