When I was a little girl, which if we are talking about size and not wisdom that is not that many years ago!!! My grandmother who I called Mom and my grandfather Pop lived in the little town of Abbeville Alabama. She was a sweet little school teacher and sang and prayed with her class on a daily basis. I think she spent as much time teaching them to be sweet as she did Arithmetic and such.
I remember when my brothers and I would run out to play she would yell out the back screen door, with her southern accent, “Play Purdy.” I love that expression and I still use it sometimes and know that now more than ever I think some of us need to be reminded to play PURDY!!!!
If I had to give you a definition of what playing purdy means in layman terms it is being kind, finding the good, being slow to react, and for heaven’s sake enjoying each other while you are here on this planet. I think in the scheme of things we have limited days to live and seemingly fewer days to play, so let’s enjoy each other, shall we?. We simply cannot enjoy playing if we are fighting.
At the same time that I am playing Purdy in this world, I am thinking of another expression that is used in the Recovery community. Sorry if that is my go-to, but it just is…… because I have found more spiritual truth in this circle of healing than anywhere else on the planet. Perhaps those that are the most lost need God and can hear him clearly at the bottom of their landing.
Singleness of purpose is part of what is called the traditions of Recovery and quite simply put, the recovered and the recovering realized that if they try to have opinions on outside matters such as Yes you guessed it, Politics or even man made Religion it would taint the process. If they wanted to find that seed of faith and that pure essence of the God of their understanding they simply had no room for anything else. God’s love had to be at the center and the fringes and all around. This love requires that the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart are always lifting up our brothers and sisters. And since we are all God’s kids that means ALL!!!!
So let me pull this together to my life right here right now and why it is so important to me that I don’t engage in arguments, or debates or anything other than digging deep for my God given purpose, lest I sully my message.
We all have different gifts and abilities and God chooses some to lead, some to follow and many to serve in the capacity of Government. All those things are needed but each is given their ability to serve and to be a light in the darkness. Because I feel God placed me here to point out loving things, pure things, kind things, and the lofty things, I just can not and will not enter into the fray.
Playing purdy with my fellow man and having a singleness of purpose has become more important to me with each year. Perhaps I know that the older I get the less time I have to love people. And if God put me here to love people then I surely want to spend all my time playing purdy with all of his kids!!!
Ps. I know that kind spirited debate and the bringing together of different view points has built our world: .But at this phase of my life, my mission is to build a life of love and service and spend the rest of my days encouraging and helping others do the same. There is no gray in this circle only room to be drawn in and love and be loved.