24601

  I love Les Miserables, the sinner saved by grace story of Jean Valjean, inmate #24601, who receives a good turn so timely and life changing that he resolves to make the effort count for good so that the grace shown to him would not be in vain.   He is tirelessly pursued by a ghost from his past, who reminds him of what he was and supposedly always will  be.  In spite of that he does not grow bitter or weary for trying.  His will to love is stronger than fear of failure or punishment.   He doesn't give up on himself or others.  One of his last lines in the movie is "...to love another person is to see the face of God..." What a noble story, this French Revolution Pay it Forward.   How would it be if we all felt the way that Jean does, that we have to do the best we can, for the most that we can, as long as we can?
  
   It is easy to get caught up in our day in day out lives, oblivious to the opportunities around us to lend a hand or give someone a leg up.  I am just as guilty as the next of getting on the hamster wheel and mindlessly spinning without looking around to see if there have been any

casualties along the way.  Jean Valjean doesn't do that.  He forgives the undeserved and provides a haven for vagabonds over and over again without wanting anything in return.  Fiction or non-fiction the kind of love taught in the movie is what we should all aspire to. It is not just treating people the way you want to be treated.  It is treating people the way that you would if you were tending to Jesus Himself -- because you are.  I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto the least of these my brethren you have done it unto me.

     Here's the thing:  It takes very little effort to be kind (you have heard me say that before but I really believe it) and from that comes our measure of grace.

"How far you go in life depends on you being tender with the young, compassionate with the aged, sympathetic with the striving and tolerant of the weak and the strong. Because someday in life you will have been all of these."   --  George Washington Carver