Wellness is a frosted cupcake

Wellness is a frosted cupcake.   This post by Derek Mansker of No Throw Aways, gives an excellent answer to my questions in a recent post The same or different?   I asked if all sin is the same, gave 8 reasons why it is, and then one way in which physical consquences might be different.  Then we come to the however.

Derek brings up a great point about the term wellness and what it really means.  Derek’s post points out that we don’t find spiritual wellness by comparing ourselves to others or even by keeping a list of dos and don’ts.

Sin is . . .

Sin is ultimately against God.

Sin separates us from God.

Sin, whether in the physical realm or in the mind, carries with it the same consequence:  Spiritual death or separation from God for eternity.

Sin does not make you ‘well’ or ‘not well’; it is a symptom of your sin nature.

Spiritual Wellness:

IS NOT:  an attempt to live a perfect, sinless life.

IS NOT:  an attempt at living better (following more rules) than someone else.

IS NOT:  attempting to commit less sin than someone else.

IS NOT:  logging up brownie points by going to church, reading the Bible, etc.

Spiritual Wellness:

IS:   “something that we are given as a gift in Christ.”  Derek Mansker

IS:   “not of our own creation, but by our relationship with Jesus Christ.”  Derek Mansker

and best of all:

IS: “…experiencing that freedom.” (that lets sin know it is not the boss anymore.

This is a difficult concept, even for those who have been in the faith for a long time. All of us, at times, slip into that mode of trying to earn our salvation by doing or not doing something. However, as Derek points out: “the penalty that was due to you because of that sin is gone and you are able to walk and live in freedom that comes from a relationship with Jesus Christ.”

 

The standard is not others.

The standard is God (Jesus Christ).

We are sinners who do not (cannot) meet that standard.

Jesus met that standard for us.

He offers us the free gift of His salvation.

This gift is so much more than just a ticket to heaven.

It is freedom from the power of sin.

It is freedom to Christ’s righteousness.

It is freedom to everything Christ has.

It is grace.

“Wellness in Christ is not something we do, it is something we have obtained because of His work…..it is about understanding the grace of God in our daily life and living within it.”   –Derek Mansker

I hope you will hit the link above and drop over to read Derek’s article.  Tell him Angie sent you.  You will find some excellent wisdom there.

“God’s  Riches  At  Christ’s   Expense.” –Unknown

 

The Center of it All

A recent study on keeping Christ in the center of our lives got my brain working.  I actually taught this lesson to my Sunday School class, and I’m not sure I got through to them I’m not sure they heard what I wanted them too.  This is not a carbon copy of the lesson (except for 1 and 2) but it is what I want them to understand.

 

Object Lessons:

1.  Draw the circle.  Draw the best circle you can (with only paper and pencil).  Compare circles and vote for the best.  Show how to make a circle with an actual or home-made compass (string and a pencil).  Talk about how having the center point of the compass helps us make the perfect circle.

2.  Walk the dog.  This one is done in the mental realm, but one could have an actual dog and leash.  When the owner of the dog has him attached to a leash, the owner controls how far the dog can go.  The dog may think he’s an 0n-his-own-big-boy, but he can only go as far as the master allows.

3.  Tootsie Pops.  Talk about what they expect to have in the center of their tootsie pop, and what would happen if they got to the center and found a snail or something else instead of that tootsie roll.  Disappointment was given as a mild reaction and absolutely disgusted as the strongest reaction.

 

And….?

1.  Keeping Christ at our center helps us to have a “perfect,” balanced life.  There are no places where we have bumps going outside the circle or places where we don’t go far enough.  Everything in our life is tethered to Him.

2.  Tethering leads to walking the dog.  When Christ is at the center of our lives, it is like He has control over how far we can go.  I have often prayed that God would take ahold of my hand and never let go.  Then, even if I start to pull away because I see some shiny object that looks interesting, I can only go as far as His arm allows me to go.

3.  Tootsie pops should have a tootsie roll in the center.  Right?  Can you imagine biting into one and finding something gross in the center instead of that tootsie roll?  Can you imagine even biting in and finding gum instead of the tootsie roll.  It’s still edible, but it’s not what you were expecting.  It is disappointing at the very least.  Then imagine biting in and finding nothing, just a big hole where the tootsie should be.

 

 

More on 3

My father had all but given up on finding the way to Christ by the time he entered the army.  He had been baptized; he had been asked to ‘pray through’, but no one had actually told him how to accept Christ as his Savior.  Along with that, Dad had found the Christians in his life to have something else in the center besides Christ.  They were like the tootsie pop, offering something on the outside that looked good, but having a disappointing center or no center at all.   After he left for the army, his mother, my grandmother, accepted Christ.  They moved to Sandusky, Ohio and started going to church.  My mother also attended church there.  My grandmother decided Phil (dad) just had to meet this woman.  She kept asking my mother to write him.   My mother kept refusing.  She was a Christian and didn’t date non-Christian boys.

Finally Grandma brought a stamped, addressed envelope and paper and asked her to just write him one time.  If he did not respond, she was no longer obligated.  The letter basically said, “I’m a Christian.  I don’t _______, ________, or _________.  If you’re ok with that, I will write you.  If not, this is your last letter.  She also enclosed a picture (which didn’t hurt).

When my father opened and read that letter, his first thought was, “This sounds like a real Christian.”  He put her picture in his locker and wrote her back.  His letters were often searching, asking, seeking to know the Christ that my mother knew so well, the one who lived in the center of her life.

They wrote for a year and a half.  The Sunday he came home, he went forward in church and asked to join.  The pastor asked, “Have you joined Jesus yet?”   Dad told him no and someone finally showed him how he could join Jesus.  Obviously, my parents were eventually married and one year later, I was born.  My father surrendered to the ministry during this time and they struck out to live a life with Christ at the center.  Were they perfect at it?  Not! But they always sought to keep Him at the center of their lives.  I believe they have touched many people over the years because of this.

 

 

 

Our intimacy with God — His highest priority for our lives — determines the impact of our lives.”

Dr. Charles Stanley — Life principle 1

It’s all about the intimacy

Keeping Christ at the center is all about our intimacy with Him.  How do we develop intimacy with Christ?  We do it the very same way we develop intimacy with anyone.  We:

Spend time with Him (quality and quantity).

Read His love letter (the Bible).

Talk to Him (Prayer).

Learn as much as we can about Him (Experience, sharing with others, Bible study,…).

Talk to others about what He’s doing in our lives (witnessing, fellowshiping,…).

Trust Him (just as the dog trusts the master or the child trusts the parent).

Run life through His filter (what does He say/think about it vs. what the world thinks).

.  .  .

Have you ever met a Christian who could talk the talk, but was really empty inside?  (Not really a Christian)

Have you ever met a Christian who got it partly right, but Christ was off center in their life?  (Some things right, but still under strongholds of sin)

How did it make you feel?   What impression did it make on you – about the person?  – about Christ? – about Christians? – about Christianity?

Now go back to the first two questions and change out met with been.   Have you? 

We may be the only Christ others see, and keeping Him at the center of our lives brings balance to our life and glory to Him.

What’s in your center?

Something to think about

“Life is not the way it’s supposed to be.. It’s the way it is..

                The way we cope with it, is what makes the difference.”   –Unknown

Last Words

Last words

 

Spoken as she breathed her last,

Her words would always haunt me.

As the death rattle gripped her,

“Thank God, at last I’m free.”

 

Words spoken in the heat of ire,

‘Ere he walked beyond the door.

“I hate you!” flung from anger.

Now he’s gone to hear no more

 

Last words, yes we may never know,

When words spoke will be our last.

So make them soft and well thought out.

For our time goes by so fast.

 

Last words entombed forever there,

In our minds for joy or regret;

For these words can be a heritage,

Or these words can be a debt.

 

Copyright 2/7/2010 Angela Masters Young

 

This poem was created in response to a Poetry Challenge by ClownRhymes on his(?) blog.  There is still time to join in if you wish.

This challenge, different to each person entering a poem, started the cogs moving.

 

Last Words as a Heritage

When we talk about last words, we often think of words spoken by a dying person to someone at his or her bedside.   We listen carefully to these last words, spoken by one we love.  We know we will hold on to them as long as we hold on to the memory of all this person means to us.  It is the cap on the heritage of a life.   Not all of us will have the opportunity to speak, or hear, the last words of our loved ones.  We never know when the words we speak will be our last, the last ones we leave with the hearer in this lifetime.

Last Words as a Horror

In the second stanza of the poem, a person screams words he or she cannot recall.  These turn out to be last words because the other person is gone (death in this case) and can no longer hear the words of regret pouring out of the screamer’s heart.  We never know when will be the last time we see someone, what will be the last words spoken.  This should urge us to always make sure the words we leave someone with will not leave us with a heart full of regret.

 

Do you keep in mind that your words may be “last words” to someone or for someone?  

What other kinds of last words do you think we can have? 

What do you want your last words to be?

As life has taught me this lesson the hard way, I want to always say, “I love you!” because they may be the last words that person hears or that person hears from me.

Name the bars

To sum up previous posts, the conclusion is:  Yes, all sin is sin is sin.

Just because we may not see the consequences of some sins, does not mean it is not equally sin.

All sin destroys; all sin leads to death.

Jesus heals; He leads to life.

A prison of our own making

If you commit a heart sin, you may not wind up in an earthly prison, but you will be in a prison of your own making, Christian or not.

Maybe you have not committed a murder of another human being, but have harbored hatred in your heart.  Hatred, when taken to it’s natural conclusion leads to murder.  In God’s eyes, it is murder, but before it leads there overtly, it leaves a path of destruction in the life of the person and in those around him/her.

 

Where does it lead?

On a radio program, I recently heard the story of a man who found himself in prison for murder.  He was a good man.  He was only trying to protect his two step-daughters from their abusive biological father.  However, he harbored hatred in his heart and it led him farther than he ever intended to go.  Don’t delude yourself that you could never find yourself in that position, because we are all capable if we allow the heart sins to grow and fester in our lives.  The end result may have protected the girls from their biological father, but it took a good man away from them for life as well and left them with trauma and no dad at all.

This man, in his determination to protect his step-daughters, allowed his heart to harbor prison bars.  What were they?  Possibly believing lies, bitterness, not seeking God in the situation, and much more.  It is the seemingly small things that spoil our hearts and lead us to paths we never intended.  The same is true of all heart sin, be it lust, bitterness, hatred or more.

What do you suppose the actions of these fathers has planted into the hearts of the children?  The damage is extensive and while it can be healed, cannot be removed.  There will be plenty of scars in the lives of these children.  The families, friends, communities, and even society will also pay a price.

So what bars make up your prison? 

Can you name them?

What would you be willing to do to get out of prison? 

Are you in denial about the consequences of your pet sins?

Some of the bars that keep us from living fully as we should:

Guilt (real and false)

Hatred

Bitterness

Ruined Relationships

Believing lies

Denial

Judging

Unintended consequences

Planting hatred, bitterness, sin, in other hearts

Hatred, bitterness, other sin planted in my own heart.

The good news:

Jesus stands with the key, purchased with His own blood, but will not force you to allow him to open it.

“Jesus paid it all,

All to Him I owe;

Sin had left a crimson stain,

He washed it white as snow.”

Elvina M. Hall (public domain)

Can you name more bars that imprison us?

How Firm a Foundation

This week I have hit the boxes – the boxes in the bat cave my garage that have been there since we moved here, awaiting a fire my attention.  No, these aren’t the first boxes I’ve gone through, but when you move from a two-story home with full attic and full basement to a one-floor ranch with a crawl, you have to figure out what to do with all that crap treasure.  So? you say?  I found a real treasure a box I have been looking for for awhile (we’ve been here 5 years now).  It contains things from my childhood and other treasures I have collected (like my youngest two children’s first hair cut hair.)  I found some things that belonged to my mother, who passed away the week before we moved here.  AND, I found a poem I had written to my father – who knows when.

This would be special at any time, but last Tuesday my dad slipped, fell and broke his hip.  In fact, he broke the ball off and had to have the leg stretched back into position to prepare for surgery on Monday.  This is not the first time my father has been in the hospital with serious issues.  In fact, it’s par for the course in my life.  He has genetic pancreatitis, and nearly died several times during my childhood.  He was burnt pretty bad once and has been in major accidents.  And that’s just the beginning.   It’s not been easy to face his mortality, and yet he outlived my mother.

No matter what life threw us, my dad, a Baptist Minister, taught me some valuable lessons in how he handled it.  He taught me:  Life is not about circumstances, it’s about how you deal with the circumstances;  Put God first and all else will follow;  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE; and so many more things.  He taught me about God and how to have a relationship with Him.  He taught me about faith through example (stories to come in future posts?)  He was not perfect, but he is my dad and I love him.

As I pack and prepare to head down next week for his surgery and recovery, I wanted to share something I found in that treasure trove from the bat cave.  This may be a post you pass over, and that’s ok, it’s really for my daddy.  This is a poem (didn’t say it was great) that I wrote for him who knows how long ago.  I’m guessing it was in my teens.  I want to share it with him and with anyone who wants to read it.   There’s nothing like the influence of a daddy – whether through his presence or his absence, the things he teaches by doing or the things he teaches by not doing.  He is one of the most powerful influences in a person’s life and often shows us our first picture of God (good or bad).   I love you daddy.  We’ll get through this one too.

Thank You Dad

I thank you Dad for all the times

you’ve been there just for me.

The times when I was hurt or tired

or longing to be free.

I thank you for the walks we took,

the times you stopped to play,

For all those times you let things go

to be with me each day.

Thanks for coming through for me

when I thought all was lost.

I always knew I could count on you

no matter what the cost.

But most of all I thank you Dad

for bringing me up right.

For teaching me of Jesus who’s

the way, the truth, the light.

I know it’s your example then

of what a dad should be

That brought me to my heavenly Dad

who’s waiting now for me.

So thank you Dad you’ve always been

a shining knight to me

And I think you’re the greatest Dad

that ever there could be.

I love you Daddy!   Angie

copyright 2012

(Grams forgive the punctuation/grammar issues – I left it as I found it.)

Communication Busters: He said, she said

If you have a significant other, I’m absolutely sure you’ve experienced this.  He thinks she said and she thinks he said and neither one has a clue.  It reminds me of a Friends episode in which Chandler and Monica were discussing their plans.  Phoebe was writing their conversation down in a book.  Later when they realized that he thought they were to meet at one time and she thought another, Phoebe whipped out the book and said she knew it all the time, reading their former conversation to them.

If only we had a replay button (or a Phoebe)!

As my husband and I grow older, this happens more frequently.  I think it has something to do with his hearing loss.  Of course my daughter is only 24 and she only hears the first thing I say and nothing more (discussed in a previous post).  In other words, I could be wrong about the reason, but it still seems to happen to us — a LOT!

A night out starts at Best Buy

Tonight, Brian and I found ourselves alone and so decided to go out and do something.  Dates with my husband do and always have included shopping.  I’m not that big a fan, but tonight he was shopping for me, so I was down with it.  We went by Sam’s Club to grab a price check on an IPad (my promised Christmas gift from, you know – last month).  Armed with comparison information, my ever bargain-hunting husband and I headed to BestBuy to check out IPads.  That went well; questions were answered;  my husband is now thinking it over to make a decision at some later date (hopefully soon) as to which one is the best deal.  After 29 years, I would expect nothing less and have learned patience.

 

Getting our grub on

We then head to O’Charley’s and have a nice dinner.  We both had fish, he talapia and I fried something white.  It was good and we had a nice time, discussing various things that did not include our grown children or our grandchildren.  A fun time was had by all.  Even the server left happy.

 

Wally World is waiting

The next leg of our trip was to WalMart.  I needed to get some things, and we were in that area.  I am getting to the point; hang in there.  I had left my phone at home (that’s never good), so my husband said, “If we lose one another, lets meet at the front.”  I agree and we go our separate ways with our separate lists.  I pick up my items, cruise the clearance racks (my kind of shopping) and head to the food section for a couple things.  We meet at the vegetables, and he puts his stuff in my cart and asks if I’m done.  I tell him almost and say, (I swear I said this) “I’m almost done so if you want to go on out to the car, I’ll be out in a minute.”  I turn to go find my cinnamon and cereal, and he disappears.

 

 

 

…

He said, she said

Here it comes:  He was still  on “meet at the front”; I was on “go on out”.  He disappeared and was nowhere to be found, so I checked out and went to the car (well, it’s a van).  Anyway, no Brian!  I go back in (no keys or we’d have been there all night with me sitting in the van and him looking for me) and sit waiting, talking to my favorite WalMart greeter, Joyce.  She even peeks around looking for him.  I finally see him and holler his name.  He gives me “the look”, takes his stuff through the register and we get to the van.

The first words after the van doors close

He starts with, “I told you to meet at the front.  I was waiting and waiting and starting to get upset.”

I come back with:  “I told YOU that I was almost done and would meet you at the van.”

He:  “You did not!”

Me: “Yes I did!”

He:  “Well I didn’t hear you.”

We agreed thereafter not to argue about what I did or did not say.  The point was that he did not hear me, and so misunderstanding ensued.

 

 

 

…

What’s a gal to do?

So what do you do in a world where these kind of misunderstandings happen?  Do I question him after every statement to make sure he heard and understood exactly what I said?  Hearing and understanding are two entirely different things by the way.  Does he need to question me and make sure I understood everything he says?  Well, that’s one way, but somehow, misunderstandings still happen.

 

 

…

How about this

“This” is the stuff of sitcoms and comedy.  It happens to all of us.  The problem (well most of the time) is not that these things happen, it’s what we tell ourselves when it happens.  In this particular scenario, I didn’t get overheated, but I’ve had my moments.  But, my husband, exhausted after a day of work and an evening with me (yes, I’m exhausting), was filling his head with all kinds of lovely things about me as he stood waiting for me to show.  By the time we found each other, laughing about it was not a possibility.

What happens then

At this point, he was not very happy with me.  He was even more tired than before and not in the mood to listen to my excuses. {Admit it; you’ve been there.}  What happens is an argument about who said what, who did what, who was wrong, etc.  One or both may wind up feeling insulted or angry that they are impuned.  Does this change what happened?  Nada.  Does this help keep it from happening the next time?  Maybe, but I’m going to say Nada.  Does it help he and she to have warm fuzzy feelings for each other?  Nada.  I’m not saying the issue should not be discussed, especially if it is a chronic problem, but getting hot under the collar and blowing it out of proportion does nothing to facilitate communication between two people.

 

 

 

…

It is best to:

►Beware of what you’re telling yourself during the misunderstanding.

►Beware what you say to the the other person after the misunderstanding.

►Count to 10 or whatever you do to calm down, then rethink what you want to say.

►Be nice!

►Failing all that, write a blog post about it.  Oh, no, that’s just me.

Has this ever happened to you?  What happened?  How did you resolve it?  Do you lean more toward having a good laugh or strangling your mate in these situations?  What advice would you give to others (like maybe newlyweds) about these inevitable misery misunderstandings mishearings?  How do you make sure you are really heard?  Is that even possible?  Got any great stories you want to share?  The comment box is yours 🙂

Communication busters: How do you treat those with whom you disagree?

Today I read a post from a man I “met” on facebook and admire greatly.  It got me thinking, and I want to share it with you.  His first line:

As we’ve discussed before, how often do we or others tend to dismiss others (now-a-days calling them dumb or stupid or worse) if they disagree with us, especially about issues we are passionate about?  I frequently run into people on the internet who will absolutely act like I am the worst person in the world because I have an opinion they disagree with.  So what?  Do you agree with everyone you know?  If you are hanging out only with people who agree with you, you are in big trouble.  We need others in our life to debate with over the issues.   For the Christian, it is even more important to beware of this tendency.  God gave us free will, so we have the right to be wrong.  He may not remove the consequences for our choices, but He will not force us to jump on board either.  (See the discussion on freedom in Part V of the It’s all about the heart series.)

What God sees

God looks beyond the bluster and sees the heart.  If the person is genuine,  their belief system doesn’t make them horrible people.  God loves us in all our sin, and He wants us to show that love in how we interact with those who disagree with us.  That doesn’t mean we have to agree with them.  It does mean we need to treat them with love and absolute respect.  We all have many parts to us.  We all have flaws.  We all believe things that are not true or that others believe are not true.  Instead of tossing a person out as ‘unworthy’ because of something you don’t like, love them anyway and agree to disagree.  My favorite verse, Romans 5:8, says, “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us.”  If God loves us in all our sin, we must show love to others as well.  God loves sinners.  He doesn’t like sin, but He does love sinners.  I, for one, am SO glad He does!  Sometimes finding common ground can help us see beyond the conflict to the heart of this person.

“While we were  yet sinners, . . . .”

How can others see Christ in us unless we show love?  We do not have to agree with someone to love them.  We do not have to approve of their opinions, values, beliefs or actions to love them.   True love shows respect, even in the midst of the most extreme disagreements.

What do others see in you?

When people interact with you, do they see something different?  Does the love of Christ shine out in how you treat them?  Or, do you give them reinforcement that Christians are rabid haters?  Even taking Christianity out of the equation – do you show yourself as a person worthy of respect by treating others with respect?  How do you feel when others respond in rage to everything you say?  How do you feel when others call you names or curse at you because you don’t believe as they do?  This is a good place to trot out   apply the golden rule:  “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.”  We also need to be aware of the minimize mine/maximize yours effect and keep our own backyard clean not spend all our time criticizing the leaves in the neighbor’s yard if ours is full of garbage.

Be a diligent seeker

If we have in the back forefront of our mind that our goal is to bring glory to Christ, not to win an argument, we should do well.  As a Christian, you may be the only Christ others see – you want to come as close to the real thing as possible.  Even if you are not a Christian, you represent yourself and possibly others.  What others think may not be important to you, but you don’t want to drive away those who could enhance your life.  Character, integrity and honor are characteristics everyone should strive for.   For the Christian, it is even more important to represent Christ in a way that draws others instead of turning them away.

What it’s all about

The world’s mentality is often:  please me!  For the Christian, however, the mentality and the driving force should be: please Christ!  The picture I chose for this section is “God’s Garden”, and it was chosen for a reason.  We are all part of God’s garden.  He planted us, sustains us, and harvests us.   Plants tend to grow toward the light, and we should do the same.  If our face is always turned toward the sun/Son, as we seek the warmth of His love.  Just like a child seeks to please the parent, we seek to please our heavenly Father.   We need to remember the other flowers are watching too, whether from the church garden or the worlds. None of us are perfect, but we can do better than what is often found out there today.  It’s about that diligent seeking.

A huge thank you to Al Hartman for your inspiration for this post and permission to quote you.

Do you treat people with respect and dignity, even when they don’t agree with you?

Why do you think this is important?

How do you handle it when others treat you with disrespect?

Why do you think people treat others who disagree with them with disrespect?

If you are a Christian, what have you done to reflect Christ?

What are some things you have seen Christians do or say to reflect Christ (+) or gave Him a black eye (-). 

Up is down

Two things have happened recently that made me angry.  I’m going to tell you what they are, and then I’m going to tell you the real reason I’m upset about it.  It’s really not about the happenings at all, but what it says about our society.

Meet the Nazis: # 1

That word may be a little right-on-the money over-the-top, but some people take things way too far.  Somewhere in my world recently, a lady decided to take someone else to task publicly because of a paper towel.  The statement did NOT need made in the context, but the person had to get their digs in that they are better than others because they would not support a less-green option.  My first thought was “get over yourself!”  But in today’s world, we see this more and more.

It’s not easy being green

Taking care of our world is a God-given responsiblilty.  However, some have stepped over the line and made it more like a religion than a philosophy.  They think they have the right to shoot the infidels censor everyone around them and hate chastise look down on others who are not as “green” as they.  How arrogant, but that’s not the only reason this infuriates causes concern.

Meet the Nazis:  # 2

Watching an entertainment ‘news’ a show the other night where they were disecting Paula Deen.  Paula has a cooking show on down-home, stick-to-your-ribs, full of good stuff food.  This is an entertainment venue, and Paula repeatedly states that she does not eat like that in her every day life. {My husband loves her, and I’m too busy writing to complain and turn the channel.}  Anyway, two women were discussing Deen’s recent ‘come out’ about having diabetes.  One was totally trashing her for being a bad example…..   It really does not matter what her reasoning was.  What does matter is that she came across as someone who wanted Paula tarred-and-feathered  dipped-in-honey-and staked-to-an-ant-hill  excommunicated, uhm, castigated for her heinous act of cooking food that tastes great but is “bad” for you, while keeping her diabetes a secret.

It’s not easy being perfect

Good grief woman.  She did not steal the crown jewels or kill someone.  Talk about over-kill.  I don’t care if Paula Deen wants to cook with fat and butter on her real-life ENTERTAINMENT show.  I don’t care what she chooses to eat in her real life.  She can eat what she wants and cook what she wants – Diabetic or not – it is her choice.  I understand there’s more to it than that, but this woman was just way too rabid about something that really doesn’t matter in the larger scheme of things.  Don’t like it?  Then don’t support her, but don’t flog her at the post of public opinion, expecting her to crawl under a rock and hide in shame for the rest of her life.  Get over yourself!  Guess what?  I am smart enough to know not to eat like that on a regular basis.

So what’s the real deal?

The real deal is that this is common fare today.  Up is down, black is white, good is bad….  There are so many issues that really matter.  Do we really need to run other people’s lives and sit in judgement on things that are really more personal than public?   It’s ok to have sex with anyone and everyone whenever you want – don’t judge that!  It’s ok to trash others in order to get ahead – don’t judge that!  It’s OK to abort babies – don’t judge that!  Don’t call something a sin – don’t judge that!  Don’t do anything at all to make someone wake up to reality ‘uncomfortable’ – don’t judge that!  We have to be politically correct; we are expected to hide our religious beliefs and practices because others don’t like it; we are called names and worse if we dare stand up against such things as abortion or sodomy or drama (backbiting/slander/gossip/etc.) or polygamy or …..

That’s another post.  I hope, whether you agree with me on certain issues or not, you can see that our values have become skewed.  Many tout out that “do not judge” statement, but God did not say “do not judge” out of context.  He said:  “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”  John 7:24   In other words, we are to judge with a pure heart, with nobleness, honesty and justice, making sure our own back yard is clean before trying to help others clean out their’s.  We aren’t to judge motives and we are not to judge as if we are better than others.  We are to judge with discernment.

A really good  assessment of the Biblical mandate about judging can be found here.

The point is that society has tilted and expends way too much energy on side issues and distractors, becoming almost rabid in their desire to slam those who don’t “measure up” to their self-righteous standards, while leaving alone the things that matter.

Pulling in my claws  stepping off my soap-box  Finished with my diatribe, I will leave it up to you what to make of this post.  I’d love to know what you think, so take time to comment if you please.  Hate mail may be sent to my e-mail which you should be able to easily find here somewhere.  It is public on this site.  If  you can’t find it, ask me for it in comments.

The three deadliest words in the world

The three deadliest words in the world :  “It’s a girl!”

When I read the above article this morning, Ann Marie Dwyer’s post on “Going Global” the other day.  She discusses the continued senseless deaths from poverty all over the world and encourages us to do our part.

Zionica states that, “India and China are said to eliminate more female infants than the number of girls born in the US each year.” and quote one woman who confesses to getting rid of 8 baby girls!

I understand the culture values males, and even understand somewhat the reasoning behind it, but I do not understand senseless slaughter of girls, from pre-born to adult, as if they are a n0n-valuable, throw-a-way, unwanted trash.

It is sad that people are dying every day from poverty and its resultant diseases.  It’s even more sad that people deliberately take the lives of children because they are not seen as valuable.

In the US and elsewhere, the selection process for deciding which children to have and which to abort is different.  You may make the cut if you’re a girl, but what if you have a disability or you are inconvenient?

How sad; how sad; how sad.