“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.” (Philippians 4:11,12) Those words were written by a man named Paul who was imprisoned in Rome—living in a house but not allowed to leave, chained to a guard 24/7. Content whatever the circumstances? How is that even a category? What was his secret? “I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” (Philippians 4:13) Imprisoned but free. Think about that. Paul was a man. A regular guy. If contentment and freedom like that were available to him, it’s available to us. I believe it’s not only through Christ’s Spirit that Paul was able to be free, but by Christ’s example. Who lived a life with more freedom than Jesus? He didn’t care what people thought of him, didn’t compare himself to anyone, wasn’t distracted by the massive number of people who came to him for healing, owned nothing and felt no need to. He took time off to rest even though he only had three years to train twelve guys to change the world. He succumbed to no pressure, and couldn’t be bought. No one could hold anything over him because he was free from everything that would trip the rest of us up. He focused only on the things that really mattered—his identity as the beloved son and being led by the Spirit, never taking his eyes off his mission. If you were free from, what would you be free to? You would be free to be the strongest, boldest, gentlest, kindest, most loving, present in the moment, most fearless, focused, truest version of yourself. Free to live with fearless liberty, free to pursue a life few ever find. Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
0 Comments
What if you could live your life and not care what anyone thinks? What if you weren’t distracted and discouraged by the drama, fear-mongering, societal pressure, and financial burdens that are so much a part of our lives? What if there wasn’t anything anyone could do that could ruin your mood or your day? If you could live your life this way, that would be freedom. Freedom is not “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” You may know your inalienable rights but the rights to truly being free may be alien to you. It’s not defined by external circumstances. Freedom is an internal condition. It’s not only freedom to, as in, do whatever you want, wherever, whenever, and however. It’s also freedom from. Freedom from is deeper and more powerful. It’s something no one can take from you. Not until you are free from can you be free to. Let’s say you win millions and millions of dollars in the lottery. Your first thought might be, “WHOO-HOO! I can quit my awful job, and have and do all the things I’ve always wanted to!” It’s true, you do have the financial freedom now to make those kinds of choices. But then, you have friends and family expecting you to cough up money for them and the government expecting you to fill their coffers. Your employer and co-workers expect your resignation, and society expects you to be resigned to volunteer for everything because they think Louie Armstrong is running “all the time in the world” in your head on a loop. Expectations. Responsibilities, real or imagined. Societal pressure. What if you lose it all? What if you lose your friends? What about maintaining, storing and insuring all the stuff you buy? You may end up more imprisoned in your life than you were before you won the lottery. But if you also have the ability to say “no” to all those requests, you would be freer. If you have the capacity to shut out the “shoulds” from your friends and family, that would be freeing. If you could take that great trip you always wanted to and not be distracted by what everyone thinks about you, what you might be missing or fearing that it could all be gone tomorrow, then you could be freer. Freedom is a state of mind. Come with me and we’ll find the road to that state. Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
She hadn’t eaten in days. Not that it mattered because she couldn’t keep anything down anyway. She had known she was getting worse for quite a while but kept hoping it would go away. If she just tried harder, stayed clean, but the disease kept growing. Her friends had been watching her spiral further and further down. In fact, they knew she was sick before she did. If they had still been around, she would have called them, but as soon as they saw the signs of her slipping away, they quietly turned and walked away. She needed to get to the hospital, but she was too weak to get herself there. She knew it might even be too late. Maybe they had been afraid she was contagious, at least that wouldn’t have cut so deeply. But she knew they were more afraid for their own reputations. If they continued to associate with her they would be labeled, judged, and left alone to die as she had been. They chose their “social security” over her soul. They would hear of her demise, for sure. They would drop their eyes and shake their heads, sad that it had come to this for her, but secretly they would be relieved that they didn’t catch it and were safe…for now. ----- When someone sneezes we instinctively back up. Who knows what they might have? We don’t want to catch it and risk spreading it. When someone’s illness is the result of their poor choices, especially when stigma is attached, we raise the threat level. We not only back up, we back away. We notice the warning signs. Maybe we say something to them but probably we don’t. We move back for different reasons, but for all of us, as far as we can without causing undue attention. We don’t want that nasty virus of adultery, addiction, deception. Bad reputations can be contagious. So we let our friends slip on to their own destruction. But that’s precisely when they need us to press in. No matter how inconvenient, unpleasant, or reputation-damaging it is, that’s what Love does. Let’s clarify. We don’t enable or co-depend. We do gather up, carrying the sick and dying to the hospital. We bring the wounded hearts, minds, and souls out of darkness and into Light. Sometimes we need to help clean the wound. Sometimes our prayers and presence are all it takes to motivate. But more often we are called to sit in the filth with our friends and let society’s insults and innuendos fly by. It’s not too late to make the next right decision. ----- A warmth began to fill one of her distant friends, one that slowly, lovingly, overpowered the fear. It wasn’t too late, but it was very close. Her doorway had been dark and empty the past thousand times she’d looked through it. Then it slowly cracked open, and warmth, light, and an unsure smile filled the space. As her friend gathered her up she gave a weak smile. She was going to make it after all. #loveinaction #bethelove #bethelight #makethenextrightdecision Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe.
I’m not sure why. I guess I wasn’t exposed to it as a child, or didn’t grow up in a guacamole-friendly family. Maybe someone told me it was yucky and since it looked kinda weird I believed them?
I mean, it was green. I wasn’t a fan of green food. Except Jello, and I don’t consider that a food. And sometimes guac has little red things in it, like, what is that? But then one day my brother-in-law made some guacamole from scratch. That means from an avocado. Did you know scratch was avocado? I thought scratch came in a little box from the grocery store. Since he made it AND I saw all of the ingredients going in AND they didn’t look too terrible (except the scratch was kind of iffy) AND since he was a lot bigger than me, I managed to get a chip’s worth of it in my mouth without grimacing or holding my nose. My tastebuds grew three sizes that day. Garlic and lime were rocking out to the rolling creaminess. Diced tomatoes (AKA the little red things) sang backup. I had a fever and the only prescription was more corn chips. Faster than you could clang a cowbell, I became a guacamole aficionado. Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch, but I am definitely a fan. I just had to get over MY preconceptions and ITS appearance and TRY it. As a child, I did NOT like lettuce, broccoli, or celery. And no matter how strong it was supposed to make you, I was certain only Popeye ever liked spinach. As an adult, I grew to like most of those foods. EXCEPT celery. I will never be a fan of the dirty water taste and stringy crunch. I wondered, was it right to judge a food based on the fact that it was the same color as other foods? Poor guacamole. I have done you wrong. But it was also mushy, lumpy, and cold. At least mushy and lumpy mashed potatoes are warm. Then I realized I was allowing the food’s appearance keep me from trying it. What other foods have I missed out on because they looked different than what I was used to? What EXPERIENCES have I missed out on for those same reasons? How many PEOPLE I have missed out on… I realized it was simply fear, mostly fear of the unknown. Fear of guacamole was only one of its manifestations. I have this fantastic book, filled with every day wisdom, called the Bible, and NOWHERE does it say “Be AFRAID.” In fact, 365 times it says DO NOT be afraid. It says be strong and courageous. Trust. Have faith. Go forward. Taste and see that the guac is good (1 Food Chronicles 11:1, The Debbie Translation). Fear is not a reason to not do something. It’s not even a reason, it’s a feeling. Don’t let a fleeting, fickle feeling tell you what to do. Or what to eat. Or who to get to know. I learned to reserve judgment until I investigate. To really see what goes into them. To decide if I can trust the one feeding me the information. And go from there. Ya know, all of this is making me hungry. If you need me, I’ll be at the nearest Mexican restaurant. Hmmm…I used to be afraid of cheesecake too… #bethelove #tryityoumightlikeit #fearisabigfatguacamolehatingliar ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for reading, sharing, and commenting. If you’d like to receive these posts and updates in your inbox, please head to the Contact Page to subscribe. |
Applying nature's principles and systems to personal and cultural development.About CommentsI love to read comments and know how my work is helping you. Please respond with your first AND last names. Anonymous comments will not be read and may be deleted.
Archives
July 2022
Categories
All
|