“Life is short, and we do not have much
time to gladden the hearts of those who journey the way with
us. So be swift to love, and make haste to be kind.”
Henri-Frédéric Amiel
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David Schlosberg davidschlosberg.pip.verisignlabs.com |
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Quote of the Day As Plato put it, the written word is a pharmakon (drug, medicine, poison), it cannot speak authentically of love. This is the philosophical point of Works of Love. In it, Kierkegaard attempts to speak authentically of love. “reality is an acquired taste” (Robert Fritz)
Anonymous Quote
listening to the
cacophony of people claiming to be correct, I find them mostly to be a
negative, albeit an apparently necessary one given how humans seem to be
built. Being correct without the power or ability to
transform the world is just an ego trip. It may not even do much good for
the one who is correct, as the contrast being correctness and inability to
convince others can be depressing (as can be the disillusionment when people
conclude that what they used to strongly believe as correct is incorrect).
My conclusion is
that, in general (there are of course exceptions), being happy beats being
correct. It’s not even close. I was
speaking of a social problem (not crucial what it was, but it happened to be
how credit default swaps were unregulated insurance and socially dangerous,
part of the great 2008 credit crisis) . You said, "Go get a Ph. D. in
finance and then you can fix the problem." I replied,
"The only
thing a Ph. D. fixes is the lack of letters after your name."
You then riffed about USC and so
I guess a Ph. D. can also help fix a university's financial problems.
'True' history
can only start w/ me and what we experience in this lifetime!
"Your calling in life is where your greatest passion meets the world's
greatest need." -Henri Nouwen
"Your mind is software. Program it. Your body
is a shell. Change it. Death is a disease. Cure it. Extinction is
approaching. Fight it."
On Women -
http://www.globalrichlist.com/
An enemy is one whose
story we have not heard.
–
Gene Knudsen-Hoffman
Importance of face to face communication.
When the dawn of Intelligence shall have spread its wings over the eastern
horizon of progress, and Ignorance and Superstition shall have left their
last footprints on the sands of Time, it will be recorded in the book of
mans crimes and mistakes that his most grievous sin was that of Intolerance!
The bitterest Intolerance grows out of racial and religious differences of
opinion, as the result of early childhood training. How long, 0 Master of
Human Destinies, until we poor mortals will understand the folly of trying
to destroy one another because of dogmas and creeds and other superficial
matters over which we do not agree? Our allotted time on this earth is but a
fleeting moment, at most! Like a candle, we are lighted, shine for a moment
and flicker out! Why can we not so live during this short earthly sojourn
that when the Great Caravan called Death draws up and announces this visit
about finished we will be ready to fold our tents, and, like the Arabs of
the Desert, silently follow the Caravan out into the Darkness of the Unknown
without fear and trembling? I am hoping that I will find no Jews or
Gentiles, Catholics or Protestants, Germans or Englishmen, Frenchmen or
Russians, Blacks or Whites, Reds or Yellows, when 1 shall have crossed the
Bar to the Other Side. I am hoping I will find there only human Souls,
Brothers and Sisters all, unmarked by race, creed or color, far I shall want
to be done with Intolerance so I may lie down and rest an ~on or two,
undisturbed by the strife, ignorance, superstition and petty
misunderstandings which mark with chaos and grief this earthly existence. IF
a man has built a sound character it makes but little difference what people
say about him, because, he will win in the end.
God will not hold us responsible to understand the mysteries of election,
predestination,
WHY I NEED
PAIN - great article
Dave Gibbons
Friday, 17 February 2012
Five ways to come to terms with your scars.
Pain is a bitter pill to swallow. Who wants to feel the sting of failure or
the overwhelming hurt of brokenness in our relationships?
And when pain inevitably comes, our response is fairly predictable—we
complain, run away and get depressed. Sometimes we turn our pain outward to
others and become abusive. Often, we turn inward and beat ourselves up,
repeating lies that eventually become our truth and define our fragmented
reality.
Learning to embrace our pain is a process that I describe as the “pain
continuum.” The pain continuum helps us understand how we usually cope with
our pain and gives us insight that can lead to maturity and growth.
Stage 1: Covering
The initial stage of the continuum occurs when we first experience pain. Pain
is the natural repercussion of dealing with our brokenness. Our immediate
response to this type of pain is to deny it. Even if we are forced to
acknowledge what is happening, we seek a way of avoiding the pain. Some
people never get past this stage. They live in an unhealthy state of denial.
The pain only worsens. Certainly, it can be numbed at times, but itʼs never
truly better. A person living in denial falls prey to a constant dullness of
heart, leading a disengaged life, and avoiding choices and commitments that
might lead to additional episodes of brokenness. Eventually life becomes a
work of projecting a false self. This just adds more stress.
When we act in a way that is different from what we know is honest, we lack
power in our lives. We can fool people, but our voices lack resonance. Over
time, this leads us to hide who we are and cover up our weaknesses. Just
like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, we are no longer comfortable being
transparent in the light of Godʼs truth, and we respond to our pain by
hiding and covering. A dissonance rises between what we say and who we
really know we are.
Stage 2: Confession
Sometimes, though, people come to a place of recognizing that something is
wrong with their lives. They are able to admit that not all is right.
Biblically, the act of confession is when we come to agree with God about
our issues: our sins and all the ways in which weʼve missed the mark. When
we agree with God, we take the first step toward exiting the rut of denial.
Since our failure is constant, confession becomes part of the normal rhythm
of those who follow Jesus.
The temptation for most of us is to stop growing at the moment of
confession. We confess our failure or the pains others have caused us. We
ask God to take the pain away, hoping for instant transformation and
healing. But as we struggle with the wounds others have inflicted or our own
addictions, whether to alcohol or drugs, or to materialism, money and
worldly success, we must recount that we are weak and that change is rarely
instantaneous.
Stage 3: Embrace
The stage of embrace is what enables a person to take responsibility for his
or her sin and to see failure and healing as an integral part of the growth
process. Along with our positive attributes and gifts, we also have scars
that define who we are. In this stage, an individual accepts shortcomings and
the fact that he or she desperately needs grace.
To be clear: the movement toward embrace is not a tacit “oh well,” a casual
acceptance of our sins. Embracing our broken humanity is not an attempt to
solve our sin problem or forever end the pain. Instead, itʼs about living in
the tension of our ongoing brokenness and at the same time the good news of
our position as children of God.
In fact, as we mature in our faith, we grow more sensitive to our
weaknesses, to the things that we once ignored or paid little attention to.
As we draw closer to the light, our scars are more noticeable. Perhaps this
is what the apostle Paul was thinking when he described himself as the
“worst of sinners” in his letter to Timothy. The more Paul became aware of
Godʼs goodness, the more he became aware of his own failures. Paul
understood and managed the tension between his identity as a child of
God—saved by grace—and his ongoing struggle with sin.
Stage 4: Guide
As we learn to recognize our scars as gifts, they eventually become guides
for our lives. Too often, we are motivated by our strengths. We run toward
the things we are good at. We avoid the things we arenʼt good at. We attempt
to ignore our more noticeable character defects. Yet as we begin to
appreciate Godʼs shaping hand in our lives, we become grateful for His
molding our character through pain. In the process, we discover our true
calling, the way of the cross. Our pain and weakness become the pillars that
God uses as a platform, a place where we can stand and speak into the lives
of others.
Nehemiah, the heroic rebuilder of the walls of Jerusalem, found his purpose
through devastation. His vision grew out of his deep sorrow over the
destruction of his city. God used his pain to redirect his life. Nehemiah
returned to Jerusalem, a place of destruction and failure, and became the
leader of the rebuilding effort. As he addressed his own pain, God
illuminated his destiny.
Stage 5: Gift
The next stage of maturation occurs when our perspective on pain changes. In
this stage, we allow the Holy Spirit to redeem our pain for the sake of the
greater good. Our pain keeps us humble and dependent on the Lord.
I have also experienced the perfecting power of pain. God has shaped me
through some of my most obvious abnormalities and struggles: the challenge
of my multiracial roots, being a minority, witnessing my parentsʼ divorce,
my momʼs sudden death, failures in the workplace, and broken relationships
with my wife, my children, my church, and my friends. These experiences have
taught me that God uses all of our story—the pain and struggle—to advance
His Kingdom.
Another aspect of this maturation is that when we connect with others in
community, we discover that it is our particular pain, not our strengths,
that enables others to relate to us most intimately. Pain, in this sense,
becomes Godʼs gift to us. We all want to make a difference in the world. We
all want to connect with others in some way. Pain is the common ground God
gives us to meet people, regardless of their cultural background or personal
history. People can understand the pain of disappointment, of loss, of
failure.
St. Augustine writes, “In my deepest wound, I see your glory, and it dazzles
me.”
Our pain becomes the scars for people to see the healing power of our great
God. Not only does He heal; He transforms what could have destroyed us.
Taken from
Xealots by Dave Gibbons. Copyright 2011 by Dave Gibbons. Used
by permission of Zondervan.
WWW.ZONDERVAN.COM.
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