Behold Your Son. Behold Your Mother.

With a new week of Lent comes a new analysis of one of the last words from the cross. “Woman, behold your son. Son Behold your mother.” These words come from Luke 19. Christ Jesus was suffering on the cross and he looked down to his mother, Mary, who was next to the apostle John and expressed his concern about her future. These words can guide us both in our political lives and our personal lives.

I think it was Toby Keith who infamously said, “I want to talk about me.” It is so easy to focus on yourself and not look outward and focus on others. There are things going on in your world and nothing else outside of that matter. Your needs and priorities should be the only things your focus on. You need to put yourself first because no one else will do it for you. Things that are happening next door only matter if they are affecting us. You matter and nothing else does.

In the political sphere, your own priorities matter. Policies that affect you are the only ones that matter. Your taxpayer money should only go towards things that benefit you. Politicians that you voted for should focus on you and not someone that did not vote for them.  Your vote should count more than others because you are more informed. You matter and nothing else does.

While dying, Jesus gave us more than enough examples of how we should act in our own lives. In pain, he looked down and made sure his mother would be well taken care of. He looked past what he was going through and made sure that those closest to him would have the security that they needed.

In your personal lives you should make sure those closest to you are okay. You should check in on friends and family. If someone close to you needs help you should offer them a hand. There may be a lot going on in your world, but the world is a lot bigger than yourself. Even past your immediate family, you should offer help to all those who need it. Volunteer your time to those less fortunate. When you see someone on the street offer them help. It does not have to be a big gesture, but a little goes a long way. I need to take my own advice here. With so much going on in my life it is easy to insulate myself from the outside world. I need to heed the example of Jesus and focus on those close to me and even take it a step further and focus on the wellbeing of those not close to me.

Moving to the political world, it is important to realize what you care about is not the only thing of importance. You may support common sense policies, but there is always another side to every issue. Representatives are elected to represent all people and not just those that voted for them. They should make decisions with the best interest of all people at heart. You should realize tax money is supposed to benefit the whole of society, and when the whole of society is benefited then you are benefited as well. You have just as much a say an everyone else and everyone’s voice should be heard. I need to take this advice as well. I like to think I know what is best for a lot of people when it comes to policies and I need to realize that is not true. I know what is best for myself, and someone else knows what is important for them. I need to listen to what is important to them and help push their priorities with my own.

We need to follow in Christ Jesus’ example. Even in his death he was able to focus on others. We need to be able to put own needs aside and focus on others in our lives.