W.W.J.D...?

Meant to be read while "The Ballad of Love And Hate" by The Avett Brothers plays in the background.

But seriously, I've been wondering about this statement. Sure, there's a lot of WWJD bracelets and lanyards for keys and t-shirts, and WWJD is the butt of many-a-joke. But when you get down to it, WWJD? is an extremely profound question.

Lately, I've been making a serious effort to ask myself "What Would Jesus Do?". I mean, I could go at this question from a real surface-y level and use is as a reminder to be good. Like, imagine a first grader reaching out to take a cookie from another kid, but catching glimpse of his WWJD bracelet, and stopping to put his hands back in his pockets. There's nothing wrong with that, but I want to think of this question as more than a "shame-shame" moment.

To ask WWJD? is to put yourself into the perspective of somebody who loved the world so much that he died for it. As I said before, this is a profound thought.

To love somebody is not impossible. To love someone so much that we could certainly offer our life for them and more, isn't impossible either. Naturally, when we care about somebody, we hope for their well-being and safety and happiness. Yes, Jesus would do this.

However we must then ask ourselves: Would I love my mother when she yells at me? Would I love my friends when they can't make it to the movies? Would I love my sister if she used my art supplies without asking permission?

Or harder still,would I love my neighbor across the street enough to say "hello" or welcome them to the neighborhood? Would I love my enemy, even when they insult me? Would I love the beggar on the corner, or would I condemn him letting his life come to this point?

This is what I'm trying to work on. My unconditional love. I'm working on asking myself honestly, "What would Jesus do?" in every situation.

On a day like today where I had to completely take care of my two foster brothers by myself, one having epilepsy, no use of his legs, and cerebral palsy and the other having down syndrome and type-1 diabetes which has to be constantly monitored if I don't want him to go into a coma or worse. Or, in this same day, my sister coming home from the University of Oregon with chest/breathing problems, and driving her to the Urgent Care myself and having to wait in the hospital waiting room for over 3 hours without a single other person there.

And every time I stressed over it, I'd try to come at it from Jesus' perspective. I'd think about that unconditional love and willingness to sacrifice. And honestly, I would feel so much better about everything. A calm would wash over me, and I'd shrug because I'd think, "Well, if he could die for me, the least I could do is babysit and keep my sis' company."

So I guess what I'm asking you to ask yourself WWJD? and even if you're not a spiritual person, or a person who has absolutely no belief of any higher power, I urge you to honestly think about how unconditional your love is.

There's a lot of hate, prejudice, hostility, apathy, intolerance, and lack of caring about each other out there.

So if asking what Jesus would do doesn't really do anything for you, at least ask yourself this:

What Would Love Do?