Thursday, February 27, 2014

Don't Laugh at Me

I had two experiences almost simultaneously that prompted this post.  We were listening to a Peter, Paul, and Mary album and the song "Don't Laugh at Me" was playing.  One of my kids mentioned that that was one of their favorite songs.  The song is about being kind in our interactions with other humans, even if they are different from us.  It's about how we don't always know the back story.  During the Savior's life he often interacted with people that the "respectable" Jews wouldn't even acknowledge.  When they confronted Him about it He reminded them that healthy people don't need a doctor, sick people do.  The irony of that is that we are all in need of a physician because we all sin. He never condoned the sins.  "Go, and sin no more."  But he always made the time for the people who wanted to be with him, the little children, the blind, deaf, lonely, sick, sinner, and stranger.

This link will take you to the chords for Don't Laugh At Me
This link will take you to youtube to listen to the song Peter, Paul and Mary sing Don't Laugh at Me
The video will make you cry.  Don't read the comments.

This reminds me of a favorite primary song I'll Walk With You

So what is the other experience, you ask?  It was a Facebook post.  I sometimes think that I should quit Facebook altogether because it is far more likely to irritate me than it is to give me useful information.  But I saw the new Pixar video about the storks. Partly Cloudy
If life were all puppies and chicks would we really be happy?  If I had never lived in West Michigan would I have ever learned to appreciate sunshine?  The world would be a much sadder place without the diversity provided by the electric eels and porcupines.

Let's be nice to each other.  Let's allow others to make decisions that we don't like without being vengeful.  Let's be kind to people who speak different languages and have different cultural backgrounds.  We might even be willing to sacrifice a few tax dollars for interpreters.  Diversity creates strength when we use it instead of being afraid of it.  We don't have to be best friends with everyone, but we have an obligation to be kind.