We all have buckets way down deep inside. We store our emotions and feelings in these buckets so we can draw on them as we need. We can help others with what is stored in our buckets but we can also help ourselves in times of need.
I first became aware of my buckets and the role they would play in my life about forty years ago. We were in the process of adopting our first set of children and we had a case worker named Mrs. Moore. We unwittingly thought we had created the perfect family and would live a completely utopian life from now on. Mrs. Moore counseled us repeatedly about the honeymoon period and the trials that would follow. We didn’t fully believe, comprehend nor expect these challenges to occur in our family. We were told about our buckets.
In our family situation we found we were constantly teaching, counseling and helping our kids. We grew to have no time for each other. We were emptying our buckets trying to be the perfect parents. It is amazing we were able to remain as a complete family, we had not taken time to refill our buckets. We found that as our buckets were empty a simple kind word, or a sincere hug, even a little kiss on the check was causing our buckets to refill. Left empty these buckets would cause arguing, separation and even hate. Through hard work on both sides we overcame these emotions and grew as a family unit. We had to clean out and refill our buckets.
Last February I wrote an article that I named hate. Hate is one of the acid like emotions that can collect in our buckets. Today in the political world I find that same hate and possibly more and stronger than then. When Barack Obama was elected I was not happy, but I continued working, going to church and having a life. Today I see so much hate from those that condemn and want to destroy Donald Trump and I think their bucket must be overflowing with bad emotion, so much so there is no room for good to enter and calm the soul.
In Proverbs 10:12 King Solomon observes “Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers all wrongs.” King Solomon doesn’t refer to physical love but the spiritual love we are all capable of. The corrosive effect of hate causes our containers to fail. They cannot hold love or compassion when corroded. I feel the time has come for all to take a look at their buckets and prayerfully ask for replenishment to come start anew with peace and love as the core feeling. Our nation is on the verge of civil war and the only way to stop this nonsense is with clean buckets and divine interference.
I am deeply concerned about the direction our country is heading. We need to come together and instead of anger and hate we need to learn to work to change what we don’t like, accept the things we cannot change and replace hate with love toward one another. These are changes we all need to work on.
One last thought comes from the book of Isaiah. In the good news Bible we are told “If you wander off the road to the right or the left, you will hear his voice behind you saying, “Here is the road, follow it.” I pray we will find the strength to follow the right road and return to calm debate and understanding of our fellow men.
You may think I’m wrong, and that’s okay, but in your heart you know I’m right.
Jack's Blog 