Limitations

Our God gave each of us limitations. Try as we may, there are many things we just can’t do! But, that same God gave us things we can do better than most. We must learn to work harder with our gifts, and stop comparing ourselves to someone that can do things we can’t. Most of the excitement in our lives falls into our own can-do range. And there are people who can do things we can’t; often those people cause us to have a lesser opinion of ourselves. Many of those things that we can’t do and they can should be changed into things we enjoy watching others do. They can be looked upon as entertainment. Things we can just sit back watch and enjoy. We must learn to reap the outcome without having to think we are a lesser person because someone else can do things or think things we can’t? Years ago, I learned that there were many limits on what I was capable of doing! And, as I started setting goals for myself, I tried to set them within my limits. When and if I reach that goal, I would reset my goal a little higher next time, and try a little harder, but, each time I reached my first goal, it always made me feel good! I often wonder if some set their goals so high they never reach them. Could that be the reason that some never appear happy? Our lives and our abilities are continually being set for us by unseen and seen others, our laws, our religions, our parents, and the society around us. Many around us will tell us what we should not do, because in someone else’s eyes that is wrong, but seldom are we told what is right! Our entire world sets limitations on us, and then judges each of us by their standards others have set!. Sadly I have learned that most of the limitations set on me by others were one size fits all! I believe that our God created each of us differently. I believe that only He set each of our true standards. I don’t know about you, but for me, that one size fits all just does not fit me! Often, I like to spread my wings and fly! I don’t want limitations set by others to cause me to feel like a bird in a cage! Some of the limitations placed on us, can cause serious implications for us, if we stray too far. I prefer to go by the limitations I put on myself as my standard. I started setting those standards for me the first time my grandma said “Bob we both know you can be better than that!” But, she left the how much better up to me! I have worn out many pairs of shoes by overstepping lines others have tried to draw for me. But, it’s still my grandma’s words that limit how far I allow myself to overstep. I do not believe that it is possible for anyone else to read the true feeling that is in someone else’s heart. And, I do not believe that someone else’s “thou shall not”, will fit in that other person’s heart. I believe everyone should have standards, but I believe those standards should be that person’s standards. For, only each of us can truly know what is deeply planted in our very own beating heart! I feel very uneasy, when someone else tries to interpret what is in my heart! The interpretations of others has broken many, otherwise good person’s hearts! Long ago I learned that it is far more important to listen and to speak! I have met several dozen people that have told me that a quick thoughtless word from their former pastor caused them to pull away from religion entirely! Thoughtless words can come easy, but often the consequences of those words last a lifetime! I find it difficult to find forgiveness for those, in a leadership position, that have not learned to think out each word before leaves their lips! I feel that each of us needs to learn our limitations and then learn to stay within those limitations!

Here

My first memory of the Great Depression was the freight trains, each with dozens of men riding on the tops of cars or inside the empty boxcars. All were going “someplace else!” I noticed that the trains with the most men riding on them were the trains heading west. At that time, I always pictured that someplace else as always a place out west. Being a little kid at the time, I always pictured all those men, riding on those trains, when they got to that someplace else, they would change clothes, buy a 10 gallon hat, wear cowboy boots and shoot Indians! I never could understand that shoot Indians part, but that was what all the men “out west” were doing each Saturday when I would take my 10 pennies and buy a ticket to the double feature picture show. I understood that what they were doing was good because the good men were always wearing those big white hats and all the bad men were either wearing feathered headdresses or black hats! One strange thing that I always remember; was it was always just men riding on those trains. I can’t remember seeing one woman! Several of those men I talked to told me that when they made it out there, they would send for the wife and kids. It made me wonder if that someplace else was like a swimming pool that the man had to dip a toe into to test the water temperature before the family could jump in the water with them. I also wondered where those wives and kids were staying until the men found that “someplace else.” Several of the kids at my school had to live with other families while their dads were “out looking.” But, you must remember I was just a little kid at the time and little kids weren’t supposed to worry about such things! But, I did and still do! Later in my life, I find many still talking about the someplace else of their dreams. I also hear many say that they want “to get away from it all!” Even today, I find many unhappy, and many continuously dreaming about going someplace else, any place else! Why not try to make our here more attractive to each of us? When I’m here; I know which side of the bedroom the bathroom is on. Even in the dark. If I want a snack all I have to do is open the door of my refrigerator, and I know right where that snack is. If I eat something that doesn’t agree with me, I know which shelf the Tums are on, they too even in the dark! I’m just more comfortable at my here than when I’m someplace else. And as I think about it, wasn’t this here where I am today, the someplace else, for me, when I came to it? Yes, that was before I had moved into it! I wonder why many of us look upon our here as boring and any someplace else as exciting? Could it be; we have made ourselves boring and unexciting and we expect others in that someplace else to provide the excitement we no longer find in ourselves? We find those others providing our excitement for only a short time, and then it’s time to start looking another, a more exciting someplace else. Most of us would pick a someplace else for short time but we have to realize is up to each of us to keep our here the exciting place it once has. And to keep that excitement for a long time! Truthfully, is it the someplace else that makes us feel better? Or, do we feel that we can be a different someone else when we get there? When we get to that someplace else we usually find everything squeaky clean and everything in order, but how long do you think it would take us to make it just another here? It’s hard to imagine our here is as exciting as a someplace else, but wasn’t it once? Now tell me, who really made that here the way it is today? What or who are we really trying to run away from or look for? My Grandma use to tell me,”Be careful how you make your nest. You may have to live in it for a long time!”

Reason

How long has it been since anyone brought up the subject of reason to you? What is this reason stuff I’m talking about? Well it’s; reason to live, reason to die, the reason to be the person you feel you are in your heart or the reason you feel you should be that person you are expected to be, in the eyes of the rest of the world? Or maybe a reason to stop doing something that feels good to you, but brings hurts to you or to others. How do we really find out about this reason stuff? The best way is to find support from a person or group that has been down that road before you. True reason cannot be found in books, because most books are “one-size-fits-all.” True reason cannot be found in the bottle of pills. They too are usually that same “one-size-fits-all!” True reason is found in the good and bad scars of others who are willing to talk about how they got the scars! I would much rather hear it from person telling me; this is what happened to me and this is what I did about or what I’m doing about. It has to be better than someone holding up a book and then reading a bunch of “though shall not’s” from that book! Most of us have already done many of those “thou shall not’s” in that book! And, some of them felt awfully good! But, maybe like me, I knew at the time they were hurting me! Please, give me purpose, or reason to change, don’t keep telling me what I should have done! All those should haves are history; don’t keep rubbing my nose in things that cannot be changed. Help me find reason to make my life and the life of others better! I do not want another “size that fits all,” in my life, because, that “one size” never seems to fit me. To me it’s like trying to put on a pair of shoes that really didn’t fit. I always expect a reason to be put there! I know I’m not going to Hell! So, don’t try to use that threat on me! I’m scarred from the bottoms of my feet to my knees from stumbling over those Ten Commandment rocks and, as I look forward in my life I can see many more of those rocks in my road ahead. I’ve learned that each time I stumble, and I hurt no one else, all I have to do is pick myself up and keep walking. As I grow older, I’m finding it harder each time I have to lift myself back up. Ahead I can see two things; I can see a long road with lots of those same big rocks and I can also see a fork in the road. One off to the side looks newly paved. As far as I can see I can see there is no more of those big rocks in that road. Now, show me reason to make that turn! And, don’t hand me a lot of that Heaven or Hell stuff! Just give me reason to make that term! One other point: sometimes, fulfilling another person’s needs is not giving that person reason. Often filling a person’s need is like giving an alcoholic his first drink of the day. You have fulfilled that person’s needs at the time, but you must remember that after that first drink there will never be a last! You may feel good fulfilling a person’s need, but that glass you just bought and handed to him was not full of reason!

I Don't Understand

I’ve been watching my TV and reading my newspapers about all of the excitement in the Catholic Church. Much of the language used in the church is beyond me and much of the formality forces me to ask questions. I wonder if; most of the people wearing robes and skullcaps ever truly speak to God. If they receive answers from Him? And, if they receive those answers, do they truly believe them as His will? Why do some many, deemed authorities in the church, have to form a conclave that has to be held behind locked doors and then have to vote on the next pope? If they talk to God and receive answers aren’t those answers God’s will? Isn’t this vote thing a man thing? Why is there a need for black or white smoke? My God makes a decision only once, it is His will. When he answers a question, it is answered only once, with never a change in God’s mind. So, why is more than one vote needed? God is not going to give different answers to dozens of people asking the same question. If, they are all listening to the same God. God’s will has no need for vote from mortals. I get many of my answers from my God when my hands are dirty, when I’m working and in work cloths. I can’t recall him answering any of my questions while I’m locked in a room, unless it’s my bathroom. It really makes me wonder if; in many instances man has been trying to overpower God with man’s importance. And, by making so much noise of his own that he can’t really hear God’s words? Is that why organized religions needs to vote? Is most of it nothing more than that black and white smoke? Man can never be God the creator of all things, no matter what he wears or is called. Under all the robes, titles, and crowns man is still nothing more than man. No matter what title we bestow on ourselves, we’re still only a grain of sand on the beach. That is my reason for my lack of understanding. For me; my God is my friend, my companion, and never something to fear. And, certainly not a lot of pomp and circumstance! I guess I’m too common to understand all of formal stuff. For years I had the feeling that many religious “authorities” had a special doorway with God, but after watching this performance and concluding that maybe they are all mortals just like all the rest of us. It makes me proud that I have the relationship with my God that I have.

Pretenders

Pretenders All of the pretenders are not on the stage or on the screen, many put on a show anytime they think someone else is looking. Many try to be someone they really don’t want to be, because they feel that’s what is expected of them. There is much hatred of my country today. In my nearly 9 decades I have found many good people showing an unbelievable hatred for other good people. Much of this hatred is pretended hatred, but hatred is an ugly that goes all wait to the bone and shows in person long after it is turned off. It is like a hurt the leaves ugly scar. And, a person carries that scar all of the rest of their life. Most of us are pretenders. We use this as a means of getting things we want, or maybe for not doing things we don’t want to do. One of the most common pretenders is the religious pretenders, many are the ones that tell us that we should be good, while they are doing bad things themselves. Many use proper language in their place of worship and then revert to the language of the street as soon as they walk out the door. Most people like, or are impressed by robes and crowns and even certificates, while not even asking if they were not warranted or earned. Most kids will up trying to pretend. And usually their parents encourage it. By pretending to be a pilot, I had a leather helmet and a pair of goggles. I flew thousands of hours in the backseat of my dad’s car. I’m sure you’ve heard mothers say something like; isn’t she cute dressed just like a movie star? Could our lives be nothing more than one big pretend? Most of us dress, not the way we really want, but to give others impression that we are something else. Hasn’t the name brand clothing industry made a fortune off small tags? Usually the food isn’t that much better in an upscale restaurant, but we like to be seen eating in places like that. Pretend makes us feel important, but importance of is not made by pretense. Importance is not made by big cars, expensive clothes, or hob-knobbing with rich people. Have you ever heard the saying; I’d like to buy them for what I think they’re worth and sell them for what they think they’re worth? It’s all a pretense! Many places that call themselves religious institutions are nothing more big business. Behind those closed doors the profit and loss sheet is almost as important as the Holy Books! In our world today, it’s hard to know who anyone really is. I’m sure God knew what he was doing when he decided that all of our chocolate coating, all of our pretending, would turn into dust, while our inner self, that part we cannot touch, returns him untarnished.

Dont Toy With God

Last Sunday I had friend come up to me and jokingly asked me; if the next time I talk to God would I ask him what his favorite cereal is. I have asked my God hundreds of questions and received hundreds answers, but to me my God is respect. I would never even think of asking questions like that! That question has ground on me ever since it was ask. I just could not figure out how to answer it, but I’ll try. First, each time I mentioned God I may also use the terms Father in Heaven, my Friend, He, Him or the Creator. You must realize I’m referring to the starter of all things, the creator of all things. Number one of all things, actually the starting point of all things! I’m going to list some of things I know or have been told; God is a spirit, he is of no sex, neither male nor female, but a spirit. Spirits have no need for food, drink, or anything of value. No stuff! Spirits are all-knowing. God has never lived a mortal life. God is the one God of all religions! God does not wear a wristwatch. God’s time is far different than man’s time. A day in God’s time can be 1 million years or a blink of the eye in man’s time. I’ve been taken places and shown things that would have taken hours in man’s time, but they happen between my heart beats! The problem is man tries to relate everything to him and fails to realize he isn’t it true starter of anything Much of God’s world travels at the speed of thought, while man pats himself on the back for accomplishing things that travel at the speed of sound! In God’s world man is just another grain of sand on the beach. Man’s problem; what should I have for breakfast? God’s problem; should I have an asteroid strike the earth and kill all the mortals so that I can start over in another million years? Yes there is a difference!

Our Boring World

The blessings missed by others make me wonder if their lives can be as empty as they think they are. Blessings, opportunities, and excitement all must be looked for to be found. If one staggers through life only noticing the bad things, the negatives, one feels that nothing good ever happens to them. A special friend of mine just had a birthday, I suggested that friend make it a list of all the remember things of the past year that caused a smile. More than an hour later I found my friend sitting, with pen in hand, looking at a blank sheet of paper! Nothing in twelve months of life worth smiling about! I had smiled at many of the things of my friend had told me, but I always look for the positives. It is like in all of life we only find what we’re looking for. I was not really surprised when I was told my friend was taking pills for depression. Each week I asked dozens what they had learned that was exciting in the past week or when appropriate, what blessings they had received in the past week. I have found it hard for me to believe how few have found in the excitement in their lives, or any blessings. What they refer to as their lives, would bore me to no end! I have yet to see the day that I could not fill several pages with my day’s excitement and blessings! I guess one of the things bothers me the most is; because of my health, my word shrinks more every day, but in my much smaller world I still find much excitement. While many with the whole world before them, only look for negatives and hate. Out of my window I see a wonderful world; apparently many have pulled down their shades and can see nothing good out of their windows. They see nothing of the world I see. By looking at the world facing you, by looking at the expressions on those faces, you can easily tell those who have pulled down their shades. There are many things in our world today are worth smiling about. There are also many things in our world today are worth frowning about. We have to make a choice. It’s your world not someone else’s world to choose our life for us, but so many are just too lazy to choose their own “your world” to live in! It’s just that it’s your world, your life is what you make of it. No one else is to blame, it’s your world you live in the way you want to live it.