Chris
posted April 10, 2007
A Message from Bill Gilmour, Jennifer's Uncle
Faith, Hope and Love…the greatest of these is love, but do we?
Faith. 62 weeks have passed since my niece Jennifer Kesse was abducted in Orlando. Her family and friends continue to seek answers. With heavy hearts we pray for God's strength, courage and compassion everyday until Jennifer is brought home.
Hope. This week billions of people around the world celebrate the fulfillment of God's plan for our salvation. Planned perfectly, flawlessly implemented and accepted in obedience to our Creator. Understanding this gracious gift and by our faith we are able to patiently wait for the Person of Interest (POI) to be identified by "someone" - who knows this person - a friend, neighbor, relative or coworker.
We know that "someone" knows who this person is. If that person is you, Jennifer will not be brought home without your help….please reach deep inside yourself and make the call that will bring this 62 week ordeal to an end. Know you have our forgiveness.
Your silence, added to that of many others, contributes to the unprecedented rise in crime now experienced by the people of Orlando. Each and every instance of violence towards anyone impacts not only the victim, but countless others - in fact, the entire community. Why? Because of our general lack of concern, empathy and compassion toward one another.
We want "someone else" to do something, someone else to fix the problem. What about us? We look inward and say I'm not the problem it's "those" people. We point fingers, judge others, but rarely do we look at ourselves to see if we play any part in the overall decline of civility.
I recently took this survey to see how I was doing in my relationships with others, you can do the same, where my name appears insert yours:
1. Bill is patient
2. Bill is kind
3. Bill does not envy
4. Bill does not boast
5. Bill is not proud
6. Bill is not rude
7. Bill is not self-seeking
8. Bill is not easily angered
9. Bill keeps no records of wrongs
10. Bill does not delight in evil but rejoices in truth
11. Bill always protects
12. Bill always trusts
13. Bill always hopes, and perseveres
14. Bill never fails.
Reality check! How did I do? Not as well as I thought. At various times my actions and words don't reflect a heart that demonstrates love, humility, compassion for others or just plain common courtesy interaction with others. I've challenged myself to be that "someone else". How did you do?
Love. I would like to challenge each of us to be part of the solution by improving the civility in our homes, schools and communities by changing how we act and speak to one another everyday. Start with baby steps -one conversation and one person at time. Set an example everyday for our spouses, children, neighbors, friends and coworkers…by caring about others more than ourselves we can make a difference!
http://www.findjenniferkesse.com/
