01/11/2026
Some days, the world—and if I’m honest, our country—feels chaotic, scary, and unhinged.
I feel it in my body. I hear it in the noise. I see it in the way fear so easily turns into cruelty.
When I start to feel untethered, I return to Jesus.
I remember him walking calmly in the midst of those who wanted to silence him, stone him, destroy him. I remember that he refused to meet violence with violence or hatred with hatred.
Instead, he taught love.
“Love your neighbor as yourself.” (Mark 12:31)
“Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.” (Matthew 5:44)
“Blessed are the peacemakers.” (Matthew 5:9)
“Whatever you did for the least of these, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40)
These teachings are what keep me moving forward in faith when everything feels like it’s unraveling.
And it is this same truth that draws me, again and again, to the teachings of the Buddha.
The Buddha taught compassion as a practice, not an idea.
“Hatred is never appeased by hatred. Hatred is appeased by love alone.” (Dhammapada 1:5)
He taught loving-kindness—metta—the intentional cultivation of goodwill toward all beings:
“Just as a mother would protect her only child at the risk of her own life, even so, cultivate a boundless heart toward all beings.” (Metta Sutta)
He taught non-attachment, reminding us that suffering arises when we cling—to power, to identity, to being right. (Four Noble Truths)
Different paths.
Same wisdom.
Same invitation.
Jesus and the Buddha were not competitors of truth.
They were brothers in divine love for humanity—each pointing us back to the same way of being:
Choose compassion over fear.
Choose love over ego.
Choose presence over reactivity.
Choose awakening over hatred.
In times like these, faith is not about certainty.
It’s about practice.
It’s about how we show up.
It’s about who we choose to be in the midst of the chaos.
And today, I choose love.
Again.
And again.
And again. 🤍