Am I My Brother's Keeper?

Leah's question to me this morning was "Am I My Brother's Keeper?"

This came out of morning sermon that was on the television. The pastor was talking about how we should be one another's keepers. How neighbors should look out for each other and we should respect one another, and love each other as we love ourselves. This led to a heavy early morning discussion about 'the Golden Rule'. Also known as the ethic of reciprocity. Leah asked if this was just from the Bible. I told her that the essence of the Golden Rule is much older than that one line in Deuteronomy that says "Love your neighbor as you love yourself", known as the 'Great Commandment'. It can be found in the times of Ancient Babylon, in the Code of Hammurabi. It can be found in nearly every spiritual and religious belief.

She grasped enough of the idea. She asked "What if someone does not love themselves?" Good question. We discussed reasons why people may be unhappy in their lives and why they may suffer from low self-esteem. What we can do in our day to day actions to help those people in our lives who may be in a rut.

So after discussing all of this I posed her original question to her "Are you your brother's keeper?" to which Leah replied "Yes. And I think he is my keeper as well."

Leah said that she thinks it is probably a good idea to just follow the Golden Rule all the time. I have to agree with her. Sometimes having positive intent can make all the difference.

Our Sunday morning conversations tend to be heavier than our day to day conversations. Probably has to do with my habit of watching Sunday morning pastoral programs and CBS Sunday Morning.

Sunday Mornings

My Sunday mornings used to be spent getting up early and enjoying a café con leche and some pan con matequilla. I like to watch CBS Sunday Morning. My father was usually off on Sundays (unless he was working overtime) and I remember getting up to watch the show with him. I think I liked that they always had all these different suns in varying media displayed throughout the show.

This has always been my quiet time.

Now that Louis wakes up around 6 and Leah is usually up by 7:30 my mornings have changed. I make them breakfast and we spend the morning playing and talking. Sometimes I get a cup of coffee in, usually cold by the time I get to it. I still watch the show but now I do so with Leah. It is actually pretty great. She learns a lot and afterward we look up answers to questions she may have.

It can be frustrating at times, the little time I have to myself but after mornings like today I realize I am trading up.

I snapped some quick pictures of the two of them together. After our breakfast, tv viewing and research on mosquitoes I went to the kitchen to do some much needed cleaning and Leah babysat for the next hour or so. She is amazing with Louis. A great big sister. A great helper for me.