2014 Bites the Dust

Posted on by Jane Carlile Baker, Author, Editor, Teaching Consultant

My daughter is probably so ticked with me because I have written everything else but my blog lately. Whew! Got that guilt trip off my chest.
What has 2014 taught me? I am not sure, but sometimes I figure stuff out by writing about it, so here goes. It has to do with relationships with people, as opposed to pets, who can’t talk, which certainly uncomplicates the relationship. But I digress.
Sometimes I like people. Sometimes I’m tired of them and want to ensconce myself, in a Buddha-like position in the farthest corner of the universe and hum. Sometimes I love people, even the ones I’m supposed to love. Sometimes I feel unlovable. All the I’s in this paragraph are making me begin to wonder whether I am a diagnosable narcissist. Like, who cares? Truth is, I don’t know anything about much. However, God does, and sometimes I even listen to Him.
So when I listen, I hear “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and mind and love your neighbor as yourself.” We’re focusing on the neighbor as yourself aspect here. Who is my neighbor? Is it A. Laura, or B. Dave or C. anybody who crosses my path, even just by hearsay? I think God would say C. Does that mean give all my money to the next person I see? Does it mean never require anything of anyone? Does it mean serve until your knuckles bleed? My understanding of real love is that it’s being/doing for others what they need, as opposed to what they want or what might make you feel good.
I still don’t think I know anything about what others need, and that’s why God invented prayer. When I pray, I talk relationships over with Him. Get His opinion on what my part is, and, hopefully, follow the guidance He gives. p.s. When I don’t follow His guidance it ALWAYS comes out badly.
I will pray for you, and you please pray for me as we clear this trail we’re walking. It’s uncharted territory, except for the One who created the wilderness of relationships. What do you know about relationsihps?

Published by Jane Carlile Baker, Author, Editor, Teaching Consultant

Jane has loved writing from the time she learned to hold a pencil. Her writing journey moved from that pencil to personal computers through the seventies, she edited for a hospital public relations department. The eighties found her owning a public relations business, publishing newspaper and magazine articles, and directing communications for a large church. In the nineties she published her first book and led critique groups and writers' workshops. In the twenty-first century she became a teaching consultant for the National Writing Project, published several more books, and began an editing business. Jane also loves raising chickens, dogs and alpacas, gardening, oil painting, swimming and hanging out with her family.

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