Who among us is without stain? Without blame? And yet, how quick we are to pick up the stone.

The life you lead will either diminish people or affirm them. Don’t be like the one-eyed traitor who lacks sight. In Dante’s Inferno there are many circles of Hell, each one ripe with the promise to claim more souls, and a deed once done cannot be undone.

Why then is everyone in such a hurry to do a “dastardly deed?” To spur on maliciousness, hatred, and strife? To seek retribution so fiercely they fail to see the person who passes before them.

Are we not all to blame when we sow seeds of sorrow instead of Joy?

As Andy Andrews says in Finding Joy, “you find what you are looking for.”

Joy might be nearer than  you think, but how will you ever know when you aren’t looking for it? When your eye is fixed? Fear and hate make for a strong breastplate…to a cold heart.

May we all unfasten that breastplate and take a deep breath. May your eyes gaze not on misery but on joy. 

Time is short. How you spend it remains to be seen.