How many times a day do you use you cell phone to take pictures? If you’re a new mother or father, it’s many. And as our children grow we take many more of those precious moments that won’t be repeated. We constantly keep our cell phones or cameras charged up so that we don’t miss anything.
I wonder if we realize that at the same time, our children are taking pictures of us. They’re taking pictures with their own eyes, pictures that will be remembered, re-charged, and most definitely repeated. In many ways, we’re playing the lead character in our child’s mental movie, or the subject of his personal painting about how to react to life, love, pain, or joy. And eventually, our children will show their pictures to the world in a myriad of positive, or negative. ways. (more…)
When was the last time I argued with a spouse, child, friend, or business associate? What tactics did I use? Were they strong-armed with a my-way-or-the-highway feel?
When we argue—and all of us do at one time or another—our goal is often to break the spirit of our opponent with relentless words until he/she gives in. We use the bit and bridle, the saddle and spurs technique to control him or her. Mostly, because we want to get it over with quick, or we just want to vent. Venting is not arguing.
Attempting to break the spirit causes a lack of ongoing trust, and sometimes even fear. It can destroy the connection or bond we might have had with the person, when what we’re really after is that bond or connection. (more…)
Because we are human, there is in each of us the desire to acquire. Often we are after ‘things;’ bigger houses, cars, vacations, and lots of ‘stuff.’ Other times, we are after ‘power;’ some authority over others whether it be through our job or relationships.
What is this common personality trait–our desire to acquire–really all about? I think it’s because we are searching for meaning–in our own eyes and in the eyes of others. No one wants to be thought as passing insignificantly through this world, and so we strive to be relevant in some way.
But the desire to acquire can get out of hand. We must use self-discipline, or the very things that we work so hard to get will not give us relevance, but enslavement. (more…)
If we don’t want to hear the truth about ourselves or our actions, we become defensive. We ask “What is truth?” when we’re looking it right in the face. We come to the conclusion that truth is what I say it is because “I think for myself.”
And then we attack the messenger. We go down the road of ME, where truth is relative, where no one else is as important as I am, and no one else’s needs are as vital as my own. And we tell the messenger of truth that he is wrong.
But we’re deceiving ourselves with our own silver tongues.
We deceive ourselves as Pontius Pilate did. We use clever words. We wash our hands, so we won’t be blamed, and we allow truth to be hung on a cross.
Sadly, we barely notice the hanging.
Today is a time of mass deception because we are asleep at the wheel, asleep to truth. The general population seems more concerned with the newest electronic device, or the latest reality show, while the ethics, morality, and honesty of our leaders are in decay. And we react to that decay like G.K Chesterton’s analogy of dead fish floating with the current.
Even if we do notice, it’s never our fault, is it? We may be first to point a finger, but often, we’re the last to lift a hand.
We use all sorts of clever ‘talking tools’ to make our way seem correct. And some of us—-especially in politics and the entertainment industry–have the shiniest of silver tongues. But how many use those tongues to uncover Truth?
Life isn’t easy. Each of us face problems, and sometimes we don’t know which way to turn in solving those problems or in making our lives better. Sometimes there seems to be no answer to our difficulties–at least none that we can come up with on our own. We are like leaves haphazardly blowing in the wind.
But why do we feel that wehave to be in complete charge of every aspect of our lives? Why are we so afraid to give up control and surrender ourselves and our problems totally to the will of God?
Is it that we don’t believe that He loves us—-really and personally loves each one of us? Because if we don’t first believe that He loves us, then there’s no way we’ll trust Him.
Stop a minute and think about it. The person I trust most in the world is the person who loves me, who wants only the best for me, and would lay down his life for me if he had to.
If I believe that Almighty God loves me—-and he does–then why shouldn’t I trust Him enough to surrender all?
Mary, the mother of Jesus, surrendered. If she hadn’t, there would be no Jesus Christ. If she hadn’t, there would be no Christianity. If she hadn’t, we’d never have heard the words, “eternal life.” In fact, we would have no idea how to attain it.
Mary allowed God to use her; and yes, she could have said no. She had free will just like the rest of us. Almighty God would never have forced her to bear His son.
For a moment, put yourself in her position. When Mary was asked to be that vessel by a messenger from God, what would she have thought–“Am I going crazy? Do I really see an angel? Am I dreaming?”
She was engaged to be married. How would Joseph react if she turned up pregnant? He had the right to have her stoned. But there was something in her, a grace given by God that allowed her to trust that the angel was His messenger. She didn’t ask for proof that she would become the mother of the Redeemer. Her only question was, “How?” She trusted that nothing is impossible for God, and then she surrendered.
“I am the handmaid of the Lord. Let it be done to me according to thy will.” Luke 1:38
Both in this life and in the next, all men and women are called to the same end: God himself.
But the human person needs to live in society. Society is a requirement of his nature. Still, we are only a breath away from leaving it. Only a breath away from our own death.
Death is something we all must face, but sometimes we live as if we’ll never face it. We take a journey on the road called, ME.
We intentionally hurt others. We lie when we should tell the truth. We cheat in school, in business, in marriage, when we should remain faithful. We use others to our own means. We stick needles in our arms. We swallow pills, the propaganda of sexual freedom, and the taking of innocent human lives. We pay no attention to what our conscience is telling us, and instead, go on to do what we know is wrong. Then we blame others for the grief that comes from our own lack of responsibility.
At the time of our death, do we want to be caught in situations such as those?
Not so long ago, people used to talk about ‘a good death,’ an honorable death, one preceded by repentance. That is all well and good if you have time to do it. But often death doesn’t give us that luxury. Our last breath can be sudden.
The truth is that knowing we will die ought to affect how we live. And for many, it does.
I am very grateful to Mike Sullivan, Moderator of Goodreads On The Southern Literary Trail, for ‘talking about’ my novel, A Hunger in the Heart.
In the Summer of 1959 we packed up our 1958 Oldsmobile. It was my family’s first air-conditioned car. It was a little square unit that sat under the dash that blew cool air through little round vents.
With my grandparents in front and my mother and I in the backseat, we headed to the land of dreams, Florida. (more…)
Freedom is a big word. A weighty word. A lengthy word. The locomotive of Freedom is championed by words, like Liberty and Independence. But the locomotive’s steam is often the lack of any restriction or inhibition.
The train of Freedom runs two ways, and on conflicting tracks. One is a track of lies, the other a track of truth.
Before you buy a ticket on one train or the other, there are questions to ask: Where does it come from? Where is it going? And most especially, who is its engineer?
The lying train of Freedom can be very long and black. It can come from jumbled and defective thinking. It can take us to foolishness and death. And its engineer can be a faulty entity of propaganda.
Do we really have the freedom to kill innocent babies? The engineers of society and our government say we can.
Do we honestly have the freedom to forget our marriage vow, or steal another person’s wife or husband, or to have sex with whomever we want? The engineers of Hollywood say we can.
Do we truthfully have the freedom to knock ourselves out with dope at the expense of the life of our family and our own life as well? The enormous drug trade says we can.
Who is your engineer? Who is driving your Freedom train? We do have a choice. On which train will you buy a ticket?
For you were called for freedom, brothers and sisters. But do not use this freedom as an opportunity for the flesh; rather, serve one another through love. For the whole law is fulfilled in one statement, namely, You shall love your neighbor as yourself. But if you go on biting and devouring one another, beware that you are not consumed by one another.– Gal 5:1 13-18
We often use this phrase today: “She (or He) is needy,” meaning insecure enough to ‘need’ an overabundance of attention from another human being.
It’s difficult to interact with people who have learned from negative experience not to trust. If you ignore or avoid them, they will be hurt by your rejection, and may get frantic, desperate or spiteful.
Clingy behavior puts a strain on any relationship. We don’t want to suffocate another with our insecurities, but the fact is each of us needs to be needed. Can you imagine what it would be like if nobody needed you? (more…)
How many times a day do you use you cell phone to take pictures? If you’re a new mother or father, it’s many. And as our children grow we take many more of those precious moments that won’t be repeated. We constantly keep our cell phones or cameras charged up so that we don’t miss anything.
Translating a World on the Edge 