Engaging in legislative battles on Capitol Hill or fighting for his political life every two years seems trite given what Hurd saw during his time in the CIA and growing up in South Texas, the son of a black father and white mother in the late 1970s/1980s. The latter, Hurd said, helped him develop an understanding, a compassion for other people that has proven valuable in his professional life. “For me growing up … I was the only person that looked like me,” Hurd said. “And it made us a very close-knit family. It also taught me empathy. Also … I had a big head as a kid. I had a speech impediment. I had messed up teeth. My last name rhymes with funny things, and it was something that I got picked on a lot and … it made me realize ‘Hey, the only thing that matters is what the people that you love think about you.’ “ CNN Story by Mark Preston
The only thing that matters is what the people that you love think about you…so says Will Hurd. Too often we decide to believe what people say about us who don’t know us or don’t care about us…the ones who say we’ll never amount to anything, who treat us poorly, who think they are better than us, who talk down to us, call us names, try to bully us, who remind us of all the wrong decisions we’ve made. Why should we believe anything they say?
You have a choice…really you do. Start listening, really listening to the people you love, the ones who lift you up, make you feel cared for. Those who love you, tell you with their words and actions that you matter, you make a difference…just by being you. Let them remind you of just how essential you are.
Here’s the bottom line…what matters most is what you decide to believe about yourself. Face it…you don’t always believe the best about yourself. But you can decide to listen more often to those who you love…and those who love you…listen and believe when they tell you that you matter.
The power of love made a big difference in Will Hurd’s life. It is still making a difference. In fact there is nothing more powerful than the power of love. You have that power in you…the power to make a difference by planting your love in the world.
Charlottesville, Virginia is calling for love. North Korea is calling for love. Our earth is calling for love. People in your neighborhood and across the planet are calling for your love. It is the one thing…love…that will make a lasting difference.
Leo Tolstoy considered the most critical teaching of Jesus in Matthew 5:39 to be this: do not resist evil with evil but resist evil only with its logically effective opposite – good or love.
Much love always
Paula
Check out Spiritual Soul Center on Facebook for Paula’s Sunday Message for August 13, 2017.
