Backbiting?

Do you know that feeling when you realize that someone or some group of people are whispering and snickering about you? You cannot hear what they are saying but there is an inner feeling that tells you that whatever it is isn’t kind. You can feel your heart sink and the weight of your mind bear down on you. You can physically feel the muscles in your shoulders and arm weaken and your thoughts focus only on why. “Why are they doing this to me?” “What have I done?” “Why don’t they like me?” “Why can’t I make them stop?”

When you are led to water you must believe you are thirsty

You Can Lead A Horse to Water, But You Can Not Make Him Drink

Essentially, that is the way it should be because if that horse would just drink because you wanted him to what purpose would it be; he is not a storage container for water. The purpose of drinking when thirsty is to satisfy a need not to needlessly satisfy someone who is leading you and their wants. It is one thing to follow and another to be led astray, certainly even the follower must be able to decide that he or she is being led in the right direction. Even the horse must be able to choose, if not that horse could be led into the darkness of that water and thirst no more.

Can You Listen Enough?

I am a man and I can admit that I have been told that I never listen. This is not meant to be sexist, I have been told by my buddies as well that I should have listened to them a way long time ago. I am man isn’t sexist either merely because I cannot relate to whether a woman actually hears what I am saying. But it isn’t about being a man or a woman, it is about listening. Can you the reader honestly say you are listening? Sure, you pay attention, you hear people out, you actively listen to those conversations that may or may not cause you to lose track within the details, but … are you hearing what is trying to be said.

Hidden Fees

I will admit that there are things in life I should have not done, I certainly have never been much of an angel. I have never caused any immediate serious harm to any one nor am I a wanted criminal or ever have been. If that was the case the stories here would probably take a different turn. There are big sins and little sins, all are sins just the same, however; there are really bad things and just bad things which are not the same but still bad. I admit that I have done some bad things, things long since forgotten by all those except for me. I have been forgiven by those involved and I’m sure by God himself, but I still know I have done wrong.

The Scars of Nails Long Removed

I can remember this preacher once tell this story of a father who was trying to help his child identify the bad things the child did. Time has blurred some of the words but basically the father put a board up on the wall and every time the child did something wrong the father would put a nail in the board. When the child asked for forgiveness the father removed the nail, which the father noticed the child was still upset even after the nail was removed. Why would the child still be upset even though the nail representing the wrong doing was removed. The child told his father that even when the nail was taken out it left a hole where it was pounded in.

On Earth as it is …

Faith leads us to believe that one day we will all meet again in Heaven. This belief helps us cope with both the loss of loved ones and the uncertainty of life itself. Many of the images portrayed of this life after life reveal a “pearly gate” up in the clouds. When that time comes and we cross over we will say goodbye to all the worldly things on this earth. I say that is unfair.

Look around throughout your travels and see all the things we have here on earth. All the sun sets, trees, mountains, and streams. Look at all the flowers, birds, chipmunks, and squirrels. Think about all you enjoy now and ask why we will have to leave them all behind. This Heaven they say we will all live everlasting, will it not have football and race cars? Will there no longer be time to go for a bike ride or go fishing? After dreaming all my life for a 1967 Pontiac GTO are they going to lead me to believe if I don’t get one in this life I will never ever have one?

“The act of sending one who is to witness”

There is this memory of some scruffy college professor rolling through the dirt and avoiding snakes, booby traps, and bullets. Often this hero is chasing after some relic and becomes tangled with some type of missionary. Now as much as I would like to continue creating fictitious exaggeration of people trying to save something from being in the “wrong hands” especially being the purpose of keeping something from the wrong hands in itself can be debated, this little rant is actually about something else. What is on my mind is the “act of sending” someone to “witness across cultures.”

I personally tend to place the term missionaries with those nuns-like people who live among some third world tribe and teaches them how to pray in English. These missionaries also set up schools and medical services. They teach them how to grow crops and help them build housing. If you look at the entire benefit these individuals provide to this under developed tribe, a very small portion has to do with religious scriptures. In reality, the Christian belief is being taught through the act of kindness. If you take some of the most recent religious factions that are in the news, such as the Islamic moments spreading across the east or even the strong opinions of some churches right here in the United States, their actions speak much louder than the words they should be preaching. Rather than show the goodness of the gospel they claim religious wars and protest on the basis of their own earthly beliefs and misinterpretations.

God-Fearing

As a child, I was among the numbers of children dragged to some religious castle by their parents whom hoped my soul would be saved even though I was much too young to understand. From one brick building to another, from a repurposed old home to a tent in a field. I had once been carted from one gathering to another, all of which was appeared to be praising the same God.

My childhood religious travels led me to believe that religion is strong in many people, some of which focus every aspect of their lives around what they believe. I also learned that others believe that they just don’t want anything to do with religion and just want to serve their time on this earth. Religion gives you faith in some aspect of life after life. It provides a path to find answers that merely lead to more questions.

Not Alone

There are times where we all feel as if we are all by ourselves. We know there is family, friends, and others around to be with us and to help us but that does not remove the feeling of being alone. The feeling that no one understands, no one else has been through this pain, no one feels my pain. We seem to become tricked into convincing our inner soul that we must suffer this burden singlehandedly. We are either too proud or to ashamed to ask for help.

Certainly we could seek professional help, I did that once and the “counselor” explained to me that she was only trying to “pre-screen” each request for mental support to make certain there is a valid claim. Her prognosis was that I needed to talk to a professional and referred me to some qualified shrinks who would charge me a hefty hourly rate to listen to my lifetime of problems. There will be a lot of hours needed for me to get to the point.