Tag Archives: Truth

November 15, 2014

Calico’s Corner

By valencia68

“To know a man, observe how he wins his object, rather than how he loses it; for when we fail, our pride supports us – when we succeed, it betrays us” – Caleb Colton

Psalms 119:143 teaches us, “You are right and you do right, God; your decisions are right on target.  You rightly instruct us in how to live ever faithful to you.  My rivals nearly did me in, they persistently ignored your commandments.  Your promise has been tested through and through, and I, your servant, love it dearly. I’m too young to be important, but I don’t forget what you tell me.  Your righteousness is eternally right, your revelation is the only truth.  Even though troubles came down on me hard, your commands always gave me delight.  The way you tell me to live is always right; help me understand it so I can live to the fullest.”  (MSG)

I heard a story of an Irish longshoreman who moved to Italy to find work.  He found a job in the Italian fleet as a deckhand.  He later promoted to the engine room and then onward to the bridge.  He was a family man who was a person of the people.  He showed up every day, made a living and a positive impact on the people and the environment in which he operated.  He was very laid back and there were few complaints about him or around him.  Even though he was aware of great imperfections in those levitating above him, he seemed happy and content where he was.  One day, a crew from a coast guard boat boarded the ship and compelled him to discuss the shortcomings and weaknesses of his superiors.  He dutifully did what he was asked to do and told what he knew about the captain and first mate’s arrogance and unfairness.  But, when he realized that the words he spoke were going to be used against others to bring justice to the justified and that his involvement would be made public, he immediately packed his bags and jumped ship.  A couple of years later, after the deck had been cleared, the dust settled, and peace had been restored, he returned and reclaimed a place of higher prominence.  He returned as the ship’s first mate.  His friends from before were elated to see him return.

At first, his presence seemed innocuous.  He spoke highly of the people to the people about the people.  “If you take care of the people, the work will take care of itself” was his mantra.  With self-decreed leopard’s prowess, he surrounded himself with smiling faces and nodding heads.  Their smooth surfaces reduced friction and avoided conflict.  He began building a maritime community that defined happiness as the absence of complaints.  No issues were ever caused by limitations, deficiencies or failures, but were merely personality conflicts that could be resolved through persuasion or negotiation.  All seafood catch production was deemed high quality and fishing impact was seconded to happiness.  He thrived on the crescendo-ing ride to captain as his pride distended and his illusion of distinction bulged.  But overtime, the façade of reputational grandeur thinned and illuminated this calico’s stripes.  As clients began to object to the standards of the quality label and stakeholders questioned the product’s impact, his former supporters erupted about their personal oppression by the suppression of their thoughts and ideas.  The seaward Silk Utopia quickly denigrated into the aquatic Plateaux du Combat.  It was apparent that the tabby captain had built a ship made of particle board and carved lands and grooves into the thin stock.  From a distance on a dry dock, its condition appeared pristine.   The reality was that the vessel was not sea-worthy.  Nonetheless, without seeking the wise counsel of the master craftsman wood workers and machinists who also worked in the shipping yard, he charted a course for his boat that took him into deep water.  As the storms approached and the salt water penetrated the hull, the impotence of his singular ideas, the imprudence of his design, the frailness of his crew, and the inanity of his leadership philosophy, placed his crew in great peril and left his investors at a loss.

Once again, he was faced with the images of faults and defects.  This time, instead of turning tail and running, he stayed; not to face his flaws as a leader head on but to illuminate the blemishes of others.  As more light shone on the mastermind behind the mess, tension from the sailors grew.  The crowd’s earlier cheers of praise became chatter about the problems and then chants for a successor.  They then mounted a mutiny.  Most of the ship’s officers surrounded the captain or cowered on the lower deck.  Some hedged their bets on his success while others didn’t know what to do.  Still three others disconnected from the corps.  Instead of acknowledging his leadership voids, he shifted blame to his crew while he negotiated his exit and re-employment with another shipping company.  Meanwhile, the ship began taking on water in the high winds of the storm.

As the Silk Utopia violently swayed to her starboard side, a pressure-bound explosion started a fire in the engine room.  Half of the sailors began dousing the flames with foam while the others stormed the weapon’s room and then began searching for the captain.  The three outlying officers stayed on deck.  One then ran below the deck to help the sailors find the captain.  One ran up the port side of the ship to see if the life boats were still attached.  She then made a hard right and headed towards the bridge to use the intercom to call the sailors to the life boats, to use the radio to call Mayday, and to set off the beacons and the flares.  The third officer ran for the satellite phone and called headquarters to inform them of the situation.  Once the first officer accurately steered the searching sailors in the direction of the captain, he returned to the deck to help the two other officers load and dump the life boats into the water.  When the three officers realized that there was only one water worthy life boat that held 48 passengers when 84 sailors remained aboard, they each had a come to Jesus moment.  They had each jumped into action moments earlier for very different reasons but never imagined that the situation would degrade to the circumstance they were facing separately and as a team.  One took action for the satisfaction of seeing the captain get his due.  The second officer acted because she wanted to save the other sailor’s lives, and the third because the manual prescribed a specific protocol.  Together, they were the only sense of guidance the sinking ship had.  What if you dig and what if you find a thousand more unanswered questions down inside; that’s all you find.  What if you pick apart the logic and begin to poke the holes.  What if the crown of thorns is no more than folklore that must be told and re-told.  But what if you’re wrong?  What if there’s more?  What if there’s hope you never dreamed of hoping for?  Nicole Nordeman – What If

Each of us can relate to the Irish captain is some way.  Some of us are from humble beginnings while others of us are looking to make a better life for our families.  Others still are on a corporate climb, seeking to extend our networks, in pursuit of that next best thing.  The truth is our failure is imminent without:

  • The armor of our faith
  • The knowledge of His word
  • The strength of a spirit of courage
  • The guidance from prayer and wise counsel, and
  • A line of sight of the foot of the cross

Without these, the sores of our humanity gaped open by the arrogance of our egos will ooze the greed of our insatiable appetites for worldly wealth that leads to our demise.  As Casting Crowns reminds us, Be careful little eyes what you see.  It’s the second glance that ties your hands as darkness pulls the strings.  Be careful little ears what you hear.  When flattering leads to compromises, the end is always near.  Be careful little lips what you say, for empty words and promises leave broken hearts astray.  It’s a slow fade when you give yourself away.  It’s a slow fade when black and white are turned to gray and thoughts invade; choices are made.  A price will be paid when you give yourself away.  People never crumble in a day.  Slow Fade

More to come on seeing ourselves in the character of the officers.  In the meantime, here is where my reflection on the story has me:

  1. Good leaders cultivate honest speech; they love advisors who tell them the truth. (Proverbs 16:13)
  2. The honor of good people will lead them, but those who hurt others will be destroyed by their own false ways. (Proverbs 11:3)
  3. First pride, then the crash — the bigger the ego, the harder the fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

The journey from your mind to your hands is shorter than you’re thinking.  Be careful if you think you stand, you just might be sinking.  Slow Fade

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June 15, 2014

Tart Tutor

By valencia68

“A gem cannot be polished without friction, nor a man perfected without trials” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca.  Teaching is love and one of the greatest gifts one can give.  Some may say opportunities to learn exist everywhere we go.  How much we learn depends on how open we are.  God sends us teachers to take us as far as they can, then to release us as we soar to the next level.  The measures of our lives are not how high we fly or how much we gain, rather how long we are willing to low-hover or how far we are willing to bend to give away His great riches.

On Saturday morning, I practiced yoga as I frequently do.  In the early morning when I awakened, I read scriptures before I got out of bed.  I had my tea and moseyed through the morning at a very gentle pace to conserve energy as I was slated to attend a half day celebratory event at local synagogue mid-morning.

I arrived at yoga radiating peace and serenity.  We had a substitute instructor who had an extremely low energy.  Her energy was so low, it was almost depressive.  15 minutes into the practice, I found it increasingly difficult to transition from one pose to another.  By the halfway mark, my practice had completely degraded.  The only reason I did not leave class was because to do so would have caused great interruption to the rest of the students in the class.  So, I spent at least half of the class in corpse pose, feeling listless while searching for even the smallest glimpse of life’s joy.  It was as though I was in a funeral procession.  The only thing that was missing was the mortician and the hearse.  Little did I know that the experience was a preparatory event for what was to happen later in the week.  This low vibe the teacher emanated was her interpretation of calm.  The spirit was uniquely saying “Be still and know that I am God” (Psalm 46:10 – NIV) because the Lord knew that my upcoming loss would create a familiar feeling in an unconventional way.

After getting cleaned up and changed, I went to the confirmation ceremony of a girl who reached the point in her life where she willing takes responsibility for her own actions regarding Jewish ethics, law, and tradition.  The lessons imparted during the celebration were seek the truth for yourself, people are deserving of second chances, and reconcile and move on once an event has passed; a prophesy for what was to happen later in the week.  The lesson was taken from Numbers 12:8-16 which says, “How dare you speak against my servant Moses?”  9 The Lord was angry with them; and so as he departed 10 and the cloud left the Tent, Miriam’s skin was suddenly covered with a dreaded disease and turned as white as snow.  When Aaron looked at her and saw that she was covered with the disease, 11 he said to Moses, ‘Please, sir, do not make us suffer this punishment for our foolish sin.  12 Don’t let her become like something born dead with half its flesh eaten away.’  13 So Moses cried out to the Lord, ‘O God, heal her!’  14 The Lord answered, ‘If her father had spit in her face, she would have to bear her disgrace for seven days.  So let her be shut out of the camp for a week, and after that she can be brought back in.’15 Miriam was shut out of the camp for seven days, and the people did not move on until she was brought back in.  16 Then they left Hazeroth and set up camp in the wilderness of Paran.”

Later in the week, a friend emailed me to say there had been a major change in perspective on life that required us to untie the knot of our friendship.  At first, I experienced heart-break and questioned the “true” motivation for the change.  I then grieved at the loss as it felt like a loved one had passed away.  After prayer and a good night’s sleep, I realized that although I was sad about the dissipation of the growing closeness, I found the truth of openness in the relationship.  I gained far more from the bond than I lost by its disconnection.  I will miss my friend but believe that a more abundant life will come from the death of the relationship as we knew it than if I tried to cling to it.  The undertaker removed what was as the birthing center cradles what is.

The next day, I witnessed someone in a pivotal position engage in questionable activity.  I spent the next 24 hours contemplating my next move.  I felt conflicted because James 5 tells me, “19-20 My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.”  However, my training and trade urged me to expose the behavior and allow an independent party to examine the facts and find the truth.  I chose the latter option to deal with the issue.

But the tentacles of this wrongdoing reach far beyond the doer.  It is not possible to isolate the illumination of the darkness of one person when the individual is surrounded by a crowd.  To the doer of wrong deeds, the requisite shepherds and their villagers, the exposure will feel like character assassination and will have the threat of provision elimination because the land owner lacks Godly insights.  Unfortunately in this instance, the shepherds and overseers did not provide instruction, guidance, and correction to their sheep along the way.  Their sights were set on other things and a member of their flock floundered in the meadow and stumbled onto dangerous terrain.  Now the sheep is hanging in the balance with an uncertain fate.  My prayer is that the threat of death inspires a rebirth of energy that promotes great growth within the entire village.  May the independent party find the truth that I was unwilling to look for.

The dichotomy of the coming of age and the going home to rest events as well as the death and rebirth has me meditating on these scriptures:

  1. Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:5)
  2. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God (Philippians 4:6)
  1. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all (Isaiah 53:6)
  2. Make every effort to keep the unity of the spirit through the bond of peace (Ephesians 4:3)

My meditation has revealed that:  Life is full of pleasant surprises and utter craziness; God’s son is our second chance; His message to believers comes in many translations; the greatest growth comes from experiences in the darkest times.  His lessons come from lots of teachers – Be open to all of them and believe.

Newsboys provided my current chant in We Believe with “Let the lost be found and the dead be raised!  In the here and now, let love invade!  Let the church live love – our God will see we believe, We believe!  And the gates of hell will not prevail!  For the power of God has torn the veil!  Now we know Your love will never fail!  We believe, we believe!” 

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June 1, 2014

The Bold and Beautiful

By valencia68

If the path be beautiful, let us not ask where it leads. – Anatole France

Over the holiday weekend, I attended a woman’s conference.  Something I learned is that the original Webster’s dictionary defined beautiful as the quality present when one’s purpose is understood.  For the past six weeks I have been on a quest to better understand how to unpack the following purpose-focused principle: “A person’s greatest place of pain is their greatest place of power and their area of weakness is their area of gifting.”  The biblical information in several of the sessions helped to shed carnival-style floodlight illumination into the dark spaces that contain my treasures along the path to discovering my purpose.  Because of this journey, I am beginning to wear the label beautiful.

My biggest takeaways from the conference were that amazing, powerful, and moving things happen when 1400 women gather in His name; be bold; and be the love for those around you.  Experiencing the exchanges of love between this large group of strangers brought me here:

Love has no natural enemy; we allow fear of rejection to become Love’s kryptonite. Love withheld is self-hate.  Love shared is multiplied. Love repressed is deceitful.  Love expressed is pure joy. Love’s touch is a hug.  Love’s tenderness is a kiss. Love rejected is depression.  Love explored is an adventure.  Love structured is a cell block.  Love is free and so it flows. Love with obedience is bold.  Love without action is defeat.  Love laden with doubt is fear.  Love like Christ is pure trust and acceptance. “For the first time in my life I saw the truth as it is set into song by so many poets, proclaimed as the final wisdom by so many thinkers.  The truth – that Love is the ultimate and highest goal to which man can aspire.  Then I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love.” – Viktor E. Frankl

The experience of the conference was as challenging as it was stimulating and liberating.  After musing on the messages, combing through the cascades of thoughts, and sorting through the signs and signals provided by my guides and teachers, I came to the realization that: the wonders of my future are connected to the experiences of my past; bridging the chasms between the two requires a reset of my defaults for habits and reactions that no longer serve me well; fear is the only thing that can prevent me from getting there; being beautiful is only one step of boldness away; and love is the center of it all.  Said another way, the treasures of my purpose will be revealed if I use prayerfulness, gratitude and love to release fear of the future and shame from the past.

People have struggled with this forever.  The Israelites are prime examples.  We all know they spent many years in the desert on a journey from bondage in Egypt to the Promised Land.  But fear turned a two year journey into a forty year trip.  Instead of parents with newborns (who escaped slavery in Egypt) arriving in Canaan with their toddlers, they arrived with their great-grand children.  Fear (False Evidence Appearing Real) caused them first to wonder about the truth God revealed and then to wander away from the riches He had in store for them.

In Numbers 13 (VOICE), the scripture tells us: “There is dissension in the camp.  Some of the leaders have been sharing their doubts with the people, and folks are nervous.  The thrill of this wilderness camping experience has worn off, and some are thinking that working for the Egyptians wasn’t so bad.  So barely two years out of Egypt, the Israelites are standing at the door of their promised land.  Moses needs to motivate the people, and he selects 12 key men from each of the tribes to explore the land of abundance God has provided.  The nation stands to enter into a time of great reward, but first their leaders must bring back a report that will inspire their confidence.”  Specifically: “1 The Lord said to Moses ‘Choose one of the leaders from each of the twelve tribes and send them as spies to explore the land of Canaan, which I am giving to the Israelites.’” Later it says: “27 We checked out the land, just as you’d instructed us to do, and here’s what we discovered: It is rich, very rich. One could say that it flows with milk and honey; and look, here is some of its fruit.  The land is highly desirable, 28but the people who already live there are really strong.  Their cities are enormous and fortified.  What’s more, we saw the Anakites there.  29 In the Negev, there are Amalekites; and in the high hill country are Hittites, Jebusites, and Amorites.  As for the seacoast, Canaanites live there and along the Jordan River too. 30 But Caleb calmed the congregation, and he spoke to Moses.  Caleb: We should go straight in, right away, and take it over.  We are surely able!  Other Scouts: 31No way.  We can’t do it.  The people who are already there are too strong for us.  32So the report of these other scouts was quite disheartening; it made the people question God’s promise.”

Fear created doubt which made the Israelites weak.  It caused them to endure the pain associated with remaining in the desert.  Consequently, their treasures, the Promised Land, were not available to them for another 38 years.  They eventually saw the truth on the banks of the Jordan River three generations later; the same truth that gave Caleb courage decades earlier back in Number 13.  Fast forward a few decades and Joshua 1:1-3 says, “1 After the death of the Lord’s servant Moses, the Lord spoke to Moses’ helper, Joshua son of Nun.2 He said, My servant Moses is dead. Get ready now, you and all the people of Israel, and cross the Jordan River into the land that I am giving them.  3 As I told Moses, I have given you and all my people the entire land that you will be marching over.” (GNT)  Only then did the Israelites wade through the darkness of the desert to arrive into the light of the Promised Land.

The story made me question this: What treasures have eluded me because of doubt or fear?  What areas of my life am I holding back because of insecurity?  How many years have I been held captive by the anxiety of past pain?  How many times am I going to pass up God’s promises because of worry or apprehension – when He has led me to the doorstep of greater things, if only I wrap my heart and mind around the confidence and assurances that come with being a child swaddled in the cradle of His love?

My thoughts on the matter have reminded me of these truths:

  1. The power of prayer will help us to heal the pains of our past.
  2. A spirit of fear is our greatest weakness.
  3. Embrace our struggles because they built our strength.
  4. Boldness is an act of obedience which leads to being beautiful.
  5. Love is our greatest gift.

In Beautiful Things, Gungor tells us: “All this pain, I wonder if I’ll ever find my way?  I wonder if my life could really change at all?  All this earth; could all that is lost ever be found?  Could a garden come up from this ground at all?  All around hope is springing up from this old ground.  Out of chaos life is being found in You.  You make beautiful things…”

Hey beautiful!  Go, be bold.  Step out there.  Pursue your purpose.  Lose the shackles of doubt and fear.  Be free.  His promises are at your feet.  Leave your pain and weaknesses in the desert.  They were your experiences but they do not define you.  Use your power and strength to take what has been set aside for you.  Your gifts await you.  But you must show courage to get them the first time around.  His love will get you there if you simply see it for the truth that it is.

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