Today, as I sat at my computer, I pulled up my music library. As I flipped through my list of CDs I found The Airmen of Note. As I looked I found their album “Just the Way You Are.” My Friend said “stop, that’s where it is!” Meaning; that is where I will find the subject of my next blog!
I pulled that album up and on the first tract there it was! “Just the Way You Are!” Reading down the list of songs on that album I found five more titles for future blogs! Long ago I realized that my inspiration for my blogs can come from unexpected places. This one had been put there many years before waiting for me to find it today!
Do we expect more from some than we do from others? Please forgive me for referring to the prison ministry so often but that is where I learned so much. If I can’t pass that learning on to others, what good is learning?
Many times, after I had walked through that clanking gate and under the razor wire fence, I would find a few new faces in our class. I made it a point to never ask why they were there. I did not want their history to influence my feelings for them that day and all of the tomorrows that we would be with each other. I wanted to be able to look upon them as important equals, not as someone to look down on.
But, can I show the same respect for those I’m much closer to? It is a lot harder, because, I expect more from them! Maybe, too much more!
At the prison, for the few hours that we were with them, we had the inmate’s unspoiled attention. On the outside, aren’t we really looking for the same thing? Aren’t we trying to find someone that has our unspoiled faith? Someone we can talk to, just the way they are!
That, just the way they are, can be a positive or a negative. So many times I’ve heard the excuse given for a person’s actions. The excuse usually sounds like this; it is because of just the way they are! I hear this most from parents as an excuse for their offspring’s actions. Sometimes I find it followed with; I don’t understand it, that’s not how they were taught, but-----
In the late 40’s and 50’s I was involved with the big-band music of those times. Looking back today, I can remember so many of that era’s hit songs here nothing more than basic lessons of life. Usually the title was the head-line for that lesson. There was; You Have to Accentuate the Positive, Eliminate the Negative, the title I used in this blog, Just the Way They Are, and many more including the one I always use as an excuse for me, I Did It My Way!
Much of how we live our lives, how we respect ourselves, others, and our world we live in is found in our music that we choose. As I listens to the music of today and watch and listen to today’s news, sometimes it’s hard for me to accept things “just the way they are!”
Wednesday, July 27, 2011
Monday, July 25, 2011
Respect
Several days ago my immediate family and I sat for nearly an hour and had a family talk. All of my family is now over fifty but in all of that time we never before sat and had a true open discussion about US! Do we know each other better? I think so.
During our talk several words were used more than once. Three of those words are key words you’ll find used in this blog. They are respect, argue, and hurt.
As I look back on my life’s journey I realize I have hurt others. More times than I would like to admit! And, many times I just brushed it off. My only after thought was; so be it, that’s a part of living.
In my later life I’ve tried to better myself. I try to avoid situations that could cause hurts for others. Actually, I have been learning to respect others! Slowly, I have learned that there is more to living than just me!
Argument has always come easy for me. Many times I have felt it to be almost a game! It took more than eighty years of living and one family discussion, for me to realize that all those arguments were nothing more than an endless ladder that lead step by step to nowhere! And, each step of that ladder had the ability to hurt both! My new goal? If I or someone else takes that first step, I’m going to try to avoid taking the second!
For many years I’ve tried to show more respect for myself. My Father in Heaven knew that I could use more help with that, so, where did He lead me? He led me to a prison ministry! My first thoughts were that I was going there to teach, little did I know that I was being sent there to LEARN! I could write a book on the many good things I’ve learned from those Tuesday morning trips!
My highlight was the morning that I overheard one of the inmates telling several that were new to our class “we don’t use street talk when Bob is in the room.” It wasn’t only a show of respect for me, it was their way of thanking me for what I was trying to do for them.
For years I’ve tried not to use words on the outside that I would not use in my house of worship. I know my Father in Heaven is always at my side and I view it a sign of respect for Him. I find that I tend to shy away from others who continually use those words around me, the reasoning is the same.
I try to be the best I can around others. I try to show respect for others. If others show no respect for themselves or me, that negative attitude pulls me down. My Friend told me that I have to learn to let go. Just because I’ve “let go” doesn’t mean I’ve quit. It means I’ve put things that bother me in the hands of others. It doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving, many times it means I love them more! It means I need more help than I’m capable of giving. My Friend has given me the ability of hiding my hurts from others but I find it hard for me to hide my hurts from me!
That respect thing is not only the basic part of life and maybe it’s a big part of religion in its self. If we have no respect for ourselves, how can we show any respect for our world around us?
When we want to argue and we think we know it all, we must remember that there is only one with ALL knowledge and it sure isn’t you or me!
And how about all those hurts? There are times that we think only our hurts are the major ones. Think again, major hurts are those WE do to others!
During our talk several words were used more than once. Three of those words are key words you’ll find used in this blog. They are respect, argue, and hurt.
As I look back on my life’s journey I realize I have hurt others. More times than I would like to admit! And, many times I just brushed it off. My only after thought was; so be it, that’s a part of living.
In my later life I’ve tried to better myself. I try to avoid situations that could cause hurts for others. Actually, I have been learning to respect others! Slowly, I have learned that there is more to living than just me!
Argument has always come easy for me. Many times I have felt it to be almost a game! It took more than eighty years of living and one family discussion, for me to realize that all those arguments were nothing more than an endless ladder that lead step by step to nowhere! And, each step of that ladder had the ability to hurt both! My new goal? If I or someone else takes that first step, I’m going to try to avoid taking the second!
For many years I’ve tried to show more respect for myself. My Father in Heaven knew that I could use more help with that, so, where did He lead me? He led me to a prison ministry! My first thoughts were that I was going there to teach, little did I know that I was being sent there to LEARN! I could write a book on the many good things I’ve learned from those Tuesday morning trips!
My highlight was the morning that I overheard one of the inmates telling several that were new to our class “we don’t use street talk when Bob is in the room.” It wasn’t only a show of respect for me, it was their way of thanking me for what I was trying to do for them.
For years I’ve tried not to use words on the outside that I would not use in my house of worship. I know my Father in Heaven is always at my side and I view it a sign of respect for Him. I find that I tend to shy away from others who continually use those words around me, the reasoning is the same.
I try to be the best I can around others. I try to show respect for others. If others show no respect for themselves or me, that negative attitude pulls me down. My Friend told me that I have to learn to let go. Just because I’ve “let go” doesn’t mean I’ve quit. It means I’ve put things that bother me in the hands of others. It doesn’t mean I’ve stopped loving, many times it means I love them more! It means I need more help than I’m capable of giving. My Friend has given me the ability of hiding my hurts from others but I find it hard for me to hide my hurts from me!
That respect thing is not only the basic part of life and maybe it’s a big part of religion in its self. If we have no respect for ourselves, how can we show any respect for our world around us?
When we want to argue and we think we know it all, we must remember that there is only one with ALL knowledge and it sure isn’t you or me!
And how about all those hurts? There are times that we think only our hurts are the major ones. Think again, major hurts are those WE do to others!
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Yes We Did
So many times I’ve heard people say that they just could not understand what had happened to their kids! They would say that they just “didn’t teach them that way!” Are you sure? Look back, we can’t put all the blame on today!
There is no way to lay that blame on just today! We must look back over our shoulder to yesterday! We must put some of that blame on people like you and me! Why us? I’m going to use myself as an example but if my shoe sometimes fits you then stand beside me and share some of that blame. Why me? Because I’m old as dirt and I’ve been witness to much that has shaped our today! So very much of it has happened in my lifetime! I and many of my peers started our lives before the Great Depression, when times were really rough, but we lived through it.
Next came World War II and when we came home from it, I can remember many saying; if I ever have kids I’m going to make sure that they never have it as rough growing up as I had.
I’ll back up a bit; when I was growing up, each time I messed up I ended with five or ten swats across my bottom by a leather razor strap about a yard long! After a few learning lessons like that, I taught myself to become three different people. I became the around home Bob, the around friends of my folks Bob and the Bob around people that I was sure would never talk to my folks! Even while in the military I soon learned how far I could push the envelope! Looking back, there isn’t a time I remember being the only sheep, in the flock! Wasn’t I that one that said that I would never let my kids have it as rough as me?
As each of my kids grew up I’m sure they too learned to develop into different individuals as well. I disciplined my kids but not as harshly as that I received. Remember, I didn’t want it to be as rough for them!
As their kids grew up, they let them get by with more. Because, they were afraid if they pushed too hard their kids wouldn’t love them!
Before World War II most families had a dad that worked and a mom that stayed home and raised the kids. Soon after war’s end our world started a new religion, we started worshiping stuff! Everyone had to have more and newer stuff! Soon after, we found that mom too had to work, just to help pay for all that new stuff! Many thought at the end they would be judged by the amount of stuff they had!
With mom home less, the kids found they could get by with more. And, they did! Looking back I can see that with each generation we taught our kids less discipline. The kids realized that with less supervision they could get by with more and with both parents now working and then coming home tired they could get by with even more!
Today, while watching the news, I learned of a restaurant that would not allow parents to bring any children six or under! Have we lost that much control over our kids? I wanted my kids to have it better than me but I didn’t expect it to cause us to lose control of them. Sometimes when we ask for something, we end up with more than we ask! Am I guilty of the way our world is today? Yes, beyond a shadow of doubt! But, so are you!
There is no way to lay that blame on just today! We must look back over our shoulder to yesterday! We must put some of that blame on people like you and me! Why us? I’m going to use myself as an example but if my shoe sometimes fits you then stand beside me and share some of that blame. Why me? Because I’m old as dirt and I’ve been witness to much that has shaped our today! So very much of it has happened in my lifetime! I and many of my peers started our lives before the Great Depression, when times were really rough, but we lived through it.
Next came World War II and when we came home from it, I can remember many saying; if I ever have kids I’m going to make sure that they never have it as rough growing up as I had.
I’ll back up a bit; when I was growing up, each time I messed up I ended with five or ten swats across my bottom by a leather razor strap about a yard long! After a few learning lessons like that, I taught myself to become three different people. I became the around home Bob, the around friends of my folks Bob and the Bob around people that I was sure would never talk to my folks! Even while in the military I soon learned how far I could push the envelope! Looking back, there isn’t a time I remember being the only sheep, in the flock! Wasn’t I that one that said that I would never let my kids have it as rough as me?
As each of my kids grew up I’m sure they too learned to develop into different individuals as well. I disciplined my kids but not as harshly as that I received. Remember, I didn’t want it to be as rough for them!
As their kids grew up, they let them get by with more. Because, they were afraid if they pushed too hard their kids wouldn’t love them!
Before World War II most families had a dad that worked and a mom that stayed home and raised the kids. Soon after war’s end our world started a new religion, we started worshiping stuff! Everyone had to have more and newer stuff! Soon after, we found that mom too had to work, just to help pay for all that new stuff! Many thought at the end they would be judged by the amount of stuff they had!
With mom home less, the kids found they could get by with more. And, they did! Looking back I can see that with each generation we taught our kids less discipline. The kids realized that with less supervision they could get by with more and with both parents now working and then coming home tired they could get by with even more!
Today, while watching the news, I learned of a restaurant that would not allow parents to bring any children six or under! Have we lost that much control over our kids? I wanted my kids to have it better than me but I didn’t expect it to cause us to lose control of them. Sometimes when we ask for something, we end up with more than we ask! Am I guilty of the way our world is today? Yes, beyond a shadow of doubt! But, so are you!
Monday, July 11, 2011
Religion
In today’s world we find seven basic religions. But, there are hundreds, maybe thousands that found their basic ideals from those seven. Then, there are many more I call tribal religions. The Hopi, the Inca, the Aztecs, and the many tribes in Africa and the islands around the world are examples of this. We also have to count the many millions of nonbelievers and those who profess to be Atheists.
Most of today’s great religions have developed in the past three thousand years. That’s many human lifetimes but only a blink of the eye in God’s time. Along with the development of those religions our modern civilization also developed. With that modernization came an increase in population and trade. Suddenly man had to learn to behave around people he did not know!
Many ancient beliefs and religions have died. But, the world’s great religions have survived although they are finding that they have to adapt to the changing circumstances of the modern world. Many of today’s religions are struggling to modernize while trying to insure their basic creed and structure. They are finding many who want to worship their religion but they want to do it in their own “special way!”
I believe God-seekers of all religions should learn to listen to all voices. While remaining true to their religion, I feel it is important to study and learn about the faith of others. Lately I have learned; love is the basic concept of all Faiths.
I believe that every human is a child of God. I believe that there is but one God. That same God is worshiped by all and at birth we became brothers or sisters of all who came before us or will come after us.
I believe our house of worship is a place we go to fellowship and give thanks for what we have. I don’t believe it to be a place to ask for favors. I believe favors are to be asked on a one to one basis and at God’s will.
I believe war, in the name of religion is wrong. If all religions are based on the premise of love, how can it be right to kill someone you can’t convert? What have you accomplished?
God determined the region of the world each of us would be born in and the religion we would first be exposed to. Is that not God’s will?
I have a question I must ask of those who say they have no religion or the Atheist. Please give me your explanation of the following; in the early morning I walk into my yard. Ahead I see a splash of color. Moving closer I see a red rose bud with one drop of dew. As I bend forward for a better look I smell the fragrance of that rose. Who do you think put that flower there for me to see? Would it be just another happening for you? Or, could it have been a special blessing put there by God just for me to see? Could that something very special for me be nothing more than another flower for you?
For those of you that worship in a different house than me, I have much to learn from you. Maybe you might learn something from me. But, for me to learn from you, first you must come to me.
Just a few years ago almost every one we knew lived close by in our small neighborhood or were members of our house of worship. Everyone else was an “outsider” they were just a part of our “everyone else.”
And now it is today! Our neighborhood has become most of the world! Each of those “someone else” is as close as a flip of the switch on our TV or a click of the mouse on our computer. Back then occasionally we would hear some “crazy talk” of people of one religion doing bad things to people of another belief. That was always someplace else and it was being done to someone else. Maybe, if we thought about it, we felt sorry about them. For a while! And then, it was forgotten!
Today, with that flip of the switch, we suddenly find those bad things happening right there in our living room! Many times as we look we can still see blood flowing! And, it’s happening to our new neighbors! We’ve moved that quickly forgotten trauma of someone else to the center of our living room! Now! We gotta do something about it! But what?
Back again to that flip of the switch and we find that we not only moved those bad things to our living room, many of us have moved our place of worship there too! It’s great! If we don’t agree with the speaker just one click and they are gone! And, we don’t have to dress-up or even wear shoes! And, look at the many choices we have!
But it doesn’t feel quite right! Something is missing! Could it be the fellowshipping? The touch of a friend’s hand or a hug? The sound of a live voice? There are some things you can’t get from that square tube in the living room! I don’t want to get my religion from a box! I want my religion to be a living part of me and I also want to be a living part of my religion.
If my religion is not the same as yours, that’s alright, we’re still brothers and sisters under God!
Most of today’s great religions have developed in the past three thousand years. That’s many human lifetimes but only a blink of the eye in God’s time. Along with the development of those religions our modern civilization also developed. With that modernization came an increase in population and trade. Suddenly man had to learn to behave around people he did not know!
Many ancient beliefs and religions have died. But, the world’s great religions have survived although they are finding that they have to adapt to the changing circumstances of the modern world. Many of today’s religions are struggling to modernize while trying to insure their basic creed and structure. They are finding many who want to worship their religion but they want to do it in their own “special way!”
I believe God-seekers of all religions should learn to listen to all voices. While remaining true to their religion, I feel it is important to study and learn about the faith of others. Lately I have learned; love is the basic concept of all Faiths.
I believe that every human is a child of God. I believe that there is but one God. That same God is worshiped by all and at birth we became brothers or sisters of all who came before us or will come after us.
I believe our house of worship is a place we go to fellowship and give thanks for what we have. I don’t believe it to be a place to ask for favors. I believe favors are to be asked on a one to one basis and at God’s will.
I believe war, in the name of religion is wrong. If all religions are based on the premise of love, how can it be right to kill someone you can’t convert? What have you accomplished?
God determined the region of the world each of us would be born in and the religion we would first be exposed to. Is that not God’s will?
I have a question I must ask of those who say they have no religion or the Atheist. Please give me your explanation of the following; in the early morning I walk into my yard. Ahead I see a splash of color. Moving closer I see a red rose bud with one drop of dew. As I bend forward for a better look I smell the fragrance of that rose. Who do you think put that flower there for me to see? Would it be just another happening for you? Or, could it have been a special blessing put there by God just for me to see? Could that something very special for me be nothing more than another flower for you?
For those of you that worship in a different house than me, I have much to learn from you. Maybe you might learn something from me. But, for me to learn from you, first you must come to me.
Just a few years ago almost every one we knew lived close by in our small neighborhood or were members of our house of worship. Everyone else was an “outsider” they were just a part of our “everyone else.”
And now it is today! Our neighborhood has become most of the world! Each of those “someone else” is as close as a flip of the switch on our TV or a click of the mouse on our computer. Back then occasionally we would hear some “crazy talk” of people of one religion doing bad things to people of another belief. That was always someplace else and it was being done to someone else. Maybe, if we thought about it, we felt sorry about them. For a while! And then, it was forgotten!
Today, with that flip of the switch, we suddenly find those bad things happening right there in our living room! Many times as we look we can still see blood flowing! And, it’s happening to our new neighbors! We’ve moved that quickly forgotten trauma of someone else to the center of our living room! Now! We gotta do something about it! But what?
Back again to that flip of the switch and we find that we not only moved those bad things to our living room, many of us have moved our place of worship there too! It’s great! If we don’t agree with the speaker just one click and they are gone! And, we don’t have to dress-up or even wear shoes! And, look at the many choices we have!
But it doesn’t feel quite right! Something is missing! Could it be the fellowshipping? The touch of a friend’s hand or a hug? The sound of a live voice? There are some things you can’t get from that square tube in the living room! I don’t want to get my religion from a box! I want my religion to be a living part of me and I also want to be a living part of my religion.
If my religion is not the same as yours, that’s alright, we’re still brothers and sisters under God!
Saturday, July 9, 2011
Some Have To Win
Through my high school years there was a teacher I had a great disliking for. Of all the teachers I had in that school he was the one I have the most vivid memory of! He was the one that always looked down on me! He was my coach and it seemed to me that his main goal in life was to make a man out of me! I was happy to be the man I already was and I resented someone trying to make me a person I had no desire to be!
As I look back on him today; I can visualize him needing the words WIN (all in caps) tattooed on his forehead! I think he used that word in every sentence I can remember him saying. Those who were not winning (by his standards) were nothing more than trash in his thinking! I was happy with the way my God created me and I didn’t believe it was a necessary for someone like him to try to make any changes in it.
For my disliked coach, there was only one winner. Everyone else was a loser! It made no difference to him if you were improving; if you were not first you were a loser! It seemed to me the man could not understand that God had created some who could run faster or jump higher. Those were the ones he set as goals for the rest of us and if we couldn’t or wouldn’t reach those imaginary goals we were looked down on as lowly losers! Our goals had no meaning for him.
My point of view is; just because you didn’t come in first doesn’t always make you a loser. I believe it was God’s intention to make each of us different. I believe God gave each of us different talents and abilities and if we use those talents and abilities wisely more will come our way. I do not believe it is up to any human to belittle or try to change what God has given us just because they aren’t living up to someone else’s expectations.
Many times, to win, that person has to step on or hurt others. To me no trophy is worth hurting someone else. I’ve met several that have told me that winning was everything. I feel that if winning is their only goal they miss a lot of what life is all about. Do you think they could hold a door open for someone else? Or, do they have to be the first one through?
Winning or failing to win has spoiled many lives! It’s hard to compare one person’s abilities to that of another. Each person’s physical ability and thinking ability was God given when we were born. One of my beliefs is; if you find yourself to be a better person at bedtime that you were when you stepped out of bed in the morning. You’ve won!
If someone always has to win they may miss the joy of hearing one of their kids come running and yelling; “Mommy! Mommy! I just beat Daddy in ---!” And! The look on that child’s face! Yes there are times we win by losing!
There have been many times in my life that I didn’t win. But I don’t feel that I’m a lesser person for those losses!
As I look back on him today; I can visualize him needing the words WIN (all in caps) tattooed on his forehead! I think he used that word in every sentence I can remember him saying. Those who were not winning (by his standards) were nothing more than trash in his thinking! I was happy with the way my God created me and I didn’t believe it was a necessary for someone like him to try to make any changes in it.
For my disliked coach, there was only one winner. Everyone else was a loser! It made no difference to him if you were improving; if you were not first you were a loser! It seemed to me the man could not understand that God had created some who could run faster or jump higher. Those were the ones he set as goals for the rest of us and if we couldn’t or wouldn’t reach those imaginary goals we were looked down on as lowly losers! Our goals had no meaning for him.
My point of view is; just because you didn’t come in first doesn’t always make you a loser. I believe it was God’s intention to make each of us different. I believe God gave each of us different talents and abilities and if we use those talents and abilities wisely more will come our way. I do not believe it is up to any human to belittle or try to change what God has given us just because they aren’t living up to someone else’s expectations.
Many times, to win, that person has to step on or hurt others. To me no trophy is worth hurting someone else. I’ve met several that have told me that winning was everything. I feel that if winning is their only goal they miss a lot of what life is all about. Do you think they could hold a door open for someone else? Or, do they have to be the first one through?
Winning or failing to win has spoiled many lives! It’s hard to compare one person’s abilities to that of another. Each person’s physical ability and thinking ability was God given when we were born. One of my beliefs is; if you find yourself to be a better person at bedtime that you were when you stepped out of bed in the morning. You’ve won!
If someone always has to win they may miss the joy of hearing one of their kids come running and yelling; “Mommy! Mommy! I just beat Daddy in ---!” And! The look on that child’s face! Yes there are times we win by losing!
There have been many times in my life that I didn’t win. But I don’t feel that I’m a lesser person for those losses!
Monday, July 4, 2011
God's Friend
Many of us feel that God is our friend. I wonder how many of us feel that we are God’s Friend? Many feel that God is there for us to call on when we are really in a bind. But, do we want Him looking over our shoulder ALL the time? Do we feel that we have some kind of a switch or some magic words we can say that will turn Him on as we need Him? And, then we would like to have an off switch to turn Him off when that need is over? Or, maybe we would like a stand-by switch to keep Him handy but out of our hair? That way we could do as we please but keep Him handy when our next need comes up!
How long would any other friendship last if the only time we talked to that friend was when we were troubled and then avoided him the rest of the time? As soon as our needs were fulfilled we were gone! Being a friend is a two way street! Each has to hold up his end of the deal. How long has it been since you ask YOUR Father in Heaven if YOU could help?
Do you talk differently when you are in your house of worship? I’m reminded of a day up at the prison; as I walked in I overheard one of the prisoners tell the others “we don’t use street talk when Bob is in the room!” I knew it was a show of respect for me before we walked into the chapel. But, for years I had been telling them that their God was always by their side! Yet, they thought nothing of using that street talk in His presence!
Do we have two different languages? The one we use in our place of worship (the one where we think God will be watching and listening), and the other on the outside where we feel like just another grain of sand on our beach of life. Do we feel we make no difference? Do we feel less important in God’s eyes, or maybe to ourselves, after we leave that holy place than we did inside? Don’t we feel the same God by our side outside? I don’t feel we should box-up the thing we call respect and then only open the box when we think He might be watching! I’m sure we’re better than that!
I’m sure I’m one of God’s friends! How can I be so sure? Many times I’ve seen impossible things happen, some of those many times I’ve had others say to me “you must know someone special!” I sure do!!!
I’m sure we’re ALL someone special because of all of the blessings He puts before us each day. Along with those many blessings we have been given the ability to recognize and enjoy them. At first glance some of those blessings may look a little scary. This blog is a good example of that! It started on faith! Actually it started with much fear! The unknown is always a little scary! But, since I got it going it has turned into one of the most satisfying happenings in my life! When I was told to put my pen to my paper and start writing, I knew that pen was full of words just waiting to come out! I knew My Friend would show me the way!
It is so good to me to have a friendship like that. And yes, we all have a friend like that! Yes, we all do! Some just don’t want to or maybe they’re a little afraid. He is always willing but, sometimes when that knock comes on our door it is up to you to open your door and walk through! If all you ever want is a stop and go friend, that’s probably all you’ll ever get. It’s all up to you!
How long would any other friendship last if the only time we talked to that friend was when we were troubled and then avoided him the rest of the time? As soon as our needs were fulfilled we were gone! Being a friend is a two way street! Each has to hold up his end of the deal. How long has it been since you ask YOUR Father in Heaven if YOU could help?
Do you talk differently when you are in your house of worship? I’m reminded of a day up at the prison; as I walked in I overheard one of the prisoners tell the others “we don’t use street talk when Bob is in the room!” I knew it was a show of respect for me before we walked into the chapel. But, for years I had been telling them that their God was always by their side! Yet, they thought nothing of using that street talk in His presence!
Do we have two different languages? The one we use in our place of worship (the one where we think God will be watching and listening), and the other on the outside where we feel like just another grain of sand on our beach of life. Do we feel we make no difference? Do we feel less important in God’s eyes, or maybe to ourselves, after we leave that holy place than we did inside? Don’t we feel the same God by our side outside? I don’t feel we should box-up the thing we call respect and then only open the box when we think He might be watching! I’m sure we’re better than that!
I’m sure I’m one of God’s friends! How can I be so sure? Many times I’ve seen impossible things happen, some of those many times I’ve had others say to me “you must know someone special!” I sure do!!!
I’m sure we’re ALL someone special because of all of the blessings He puts before us each day. Along with those many blessings we have been given the ability to recognize and enjoy them. At first glance some of those blessings may look a little scary. This blog is a good example of that! It started on faith! Actually it started with much fear! The unknown is always a little scary! But, since I got it going it has turned into one of the most satisfying happenings in my life! When I was told to put my pen to my paper and start writing, I knew that pen was full of words just waiting to come out! I knew My Friend would show me the way!
It is so good to me to have a friendship like that. And yes, we all have a friend like that! Yes, we all do! Some just don’t want to or maybe they’re a little afraid. He is always willing but, sometimes when that knock comes on our door it is up to you to open your door and walk through! If all you ever want is a stop and go friend, that’s probably all you’ll ever get. It’s all up to you!
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