Graham Aitchison's Blog, page 5
April 11, 2013
Guest author interview - Luke Binder
Hello everyone,
We have a guest on Food For Thought today - Luke Binder from Colorado, USA. He has written and recently published his own ebook on Amazon, titled Endings Are Beginnings. Luke has agreed to do a short interview with me about the contents of his book.
Q1 - Start by telling us a bit about yourself - who you are, where you're from, what you do etc.Luke Binder from Denver, Colorado. Currently, I'm attending college working on a degree in Sports Management and Journalism. On the side, I write as much as I'm able to and I work part-time for a local sporting goods store.
Q2 - Give a brief synopsis of your book - what's it about?"Endings Are Beginnings" is about turning negatives into positives. In short, there are moments in our lives where we experience loss - whether that be a person, a belief, or a dream - and this book shares my experiences/thoughts on creating a beginning out of the end.
Q3 - What gave you the idea of wanting to write this book in the first place?I was traveling in Europe this past fall. As I met people, I just realized more and more how powerful a story can be. I thought that I could take painful memories of my past - parents divorce, struggling with debt, breakups, questioning my belief in God - and tell people about what I learned from those dark times.
Q4 - What part of writing this book did you find the most challenging?It was hard to be so honest. I really opened my heart for all to see and that vulnerability made me extremely uncomfortable. However, I knew that I had to be honest if I was going to encourage people.
Q5 - What do you want your readers to be able to take away from reading your book?I'd like my readers to walk away motivated to pursue their dreams. Life is short and we aren't promised tomorrow. And I've learned that the time to live the life that God created me to live is NOW. I hope my book encourages others to do the same.
Q6 - What makes your book different from others in its genre?The majority of Christian books seem to have a solution to life's problems. I don't claim to have a solution. I just share my heart - even when it's really, really dark. I guess that I don't claim to have it all figured out. And, in the book, I invite the reader to struggle and question with me.
Q7 - Now that "Endings are beginnings" is complete and available on Amazon, where to next for you as a writer?I'd like to write a book about traveling - featuring stories about the places I've been, the people I've met, and the lessons that I've learned along the open road. Planning to start writing that book after I've recharged my brain from "Endings Are Beginnings".
Q8 - Is there anything else you'd like the audience to know?You are free to struggle. Nothing in, or about, life is perfect. I would encourage you to accept your imperfections and in turn accept yourself. Above all, know that you are worth loving because God loves - in turn, start loving yourself. Most importantly, become the person that you were created to be.
Many thanks to Luke for taking the time to answer these questions. If you would like to purchase a copy of his book it is available at this link - http://www.amazon.com/Endings-Are-Beginnings-ebook/dp/B00CAYFW5C/His Facebook "like" page and Twitter account are as follows - https://www.facebook.com/EndingsAreBeginningshttps://twitter.com/303luke
Thanks again Luke and all the best in your journey of writing!
We have a guest on Food For Thought today - Luke Binder from Colorado, USA. He has written and recently published his own ebook on Amazon, titled Endings Are Beginnings. Luke has agreed to do a short interview with me about the contents of his book.
Q1 - Start by telling us a bit about yourself - who you are, where you're from, what you do etc.Luke Binder from Denver, Colorado. Currently, I'm attending college working on a degree in Sports Management and Journalism. On the side, I write as much as I'm able to and I work part-time for a local sporting goods store.
Q2 - Give a brief synopsis of your book - what's it about?"Endings Are Beginnings" is about turning negatives into positives. In short, there are moments in our lives where we experience loss - whether that be a person, a belief, or a dream - and this book shares my experiences/thoughts on creating a beginning out of the end.
Q3 - What gave you the idea of wanting to write this book in the first place?I was traveling in Europe this past fall. As I met people, I just realized more and more how powerful a story can be. I thought that I could take painful memories of my past - parents divorce, struggling with debt, breakups, questioning my belief in God - and tell people about what I learned from those dark times.
Q4 - What part of writing this book did you find the most challenging?It was hard to be so honest. I really opened my heart for all to see and that vulnerability made me extremely uncomfortable. However, I knew that I had to be honest if I was going to encourage people.
Q5 - What do you want your readers to be able to take away from reading your book?I'd like my readers to walk away motivated to pursue their dreams. Life is short and we aren't promised tomorrow. And I've learned that the time to live the life that God created me to live is NOW. I hope my book encourages others to do the same.
Q6 - What makes your book different from others in its genre?The majority of Christian books seem to have a solution to life's problems. I don't claim to have a solution. I just share my heart - even when it's really, really dark. I guess that I don't claim to have it all figured out. And, in the book, I invite the reader to struggle and question with me.
Q7 - Now that "Endings are beginnings" is complete and available on Amazon, where to next for you as a writer?I'd like to write a book about traveling - featuring stories about the places I've been, the people I've met, and the lessons that I've learned along the open road. Planning to start writing that book after I've recharged my brain from "Endings Are Beginnings".
Q8 - Is there anything else you'd like the audience to know?You are free to struggle. Nothing in, or about, life is perfect. I would encourage you to accept your imperfections and in turn accept yourself. Above all, know that you are worth loving because God loves - in turn, start loving yourself. Most importantly, become the person that you were created to be.
Many thanks to Luke for taking the time to answer these questions. If you would like to purchase a copy of his book it is available at this link - http://www.amazon.com/Endings-Are-Beginnings-ebook/dp/B00CAYFW5C/His Facebook "like" page and Twitter account are as follows - https://www.facebook.com/EndingsAreBeginningshttps://twitter.com/303luke
Thanks again Luke and all the best in your journey of writing!
Defining good character
This is a word you see thrown around a lot in Christian circles. "Character". It's all about the "character" of God, what sort of character we should look for in a spouse, etc. But what does the term actually mean? How do you define if someone has good character or not and what kind of people are the ones who have good character?
I believe a person's character is defined by the heart attitudes and belief systems they hold onto which surpass absolutely everything else in their lives. Despite whatever spiritual and emotional issues they may be facing - their character overrides that.
People with good character are not necessarily completely emotionally healthy, fully functional people. They can still have deep emotional wounds that they haven't faced yet, perhaps because they aren't ready to face them at that time. People with good character can still be prone to explosive incidents where they make mistakes and get things terribly wrong. But their real character overrides that - because it's defined by what they do with the mistakes that they have made.
Trials and tribulations are designed to rock our human lives to the core so that we face who we are as human beings and are given an opportunity to face and change the darker parts of our lives. The deepest issues in our lives can never be exposed unless our world is shaken to the core, and that shaking process can be both violent and terrifying. Even the most spiritually and emotionally aware human being who already has a good strong knowledge of themselves and their own emotional make up can find themselves in very darkened places within their own hearts thanks to the shaking happening in their circumstances - and that's exactly how it's meant to be.
Character is defined by how we respond to this shaking and how we respond to the ugliness that's revealed within ourselves when the darkest parts of our own hearts are revealed to us. A person with good character may have found themselves overreacting thanks to a situation that they'd never faced before which brought up something within their own lives that they needed to address. They perhaps weren't able to address it right in the heat of the moment and overreacted. Which is common. However, their character is defined as to how they respond to their overreaction. Do they shirk blame and responsibility, blame others for the state of their own hearts and walk away ignoring this opportunity for personal growth due to being blinded by their own pride, or do they use it as an opportunity to better themselves by learning to look within and ask God to help identify the emotional driving forces that pushed them to this point so that they can work through them and be healed of them? When confronted with their own sin, do they own up and take responsibility (regardless of who is confronting them about their sin) or do they knowingly and willingly defend doing what they know is wrong? To respond in the first manner shows poor, undeveloped character. To respond in the second way shows good character.
The next definition of character is what happens from that point on. Do those who have done wrong learn from their mistakes, heal themselves of the pain that surfaced when their life is shaken and automatically respond better next time, or do they apologize and give the illusion of having changed yet just continue to make the same mistakes all over again and respond the exact same way when next faced with that obstacle (which they'll undoubtedly face once again if they haven't fully worked through it)? This is something that in a lot of ways can only really be observed over time. It's easy to give the appearance of having made significant change in one's life but appearances can be deceiving at times. Once push comes to shove again, you'll see what they are really made of and if they've changed at all.
Everyone is at different stages along this journey. Some are further along than others. I would like to believe that my character is defined by the continual desire to become a stronger, healthier, more well adjusted person. I've learned how to take good things out of hard times and I've certainly faced some times over the past few years that have pushed me well out of what I believed I was capable of coping with at the time and into some dark, terrifying emotional landscapes in my own heart. Sometimes I've reacted badly. Does this make me a bad person and does this cause me to have bad character? I don't believe it does. For the simple reason that despite all these experiences where I know I've made mistakes, I've learned a great deal about myself and become much stronger and healthier as a result. Those who know me well and have observed me over time have noticed a drastic change over the past few years. I could easily have decided to sit and sulk in my misery but I made the effort to improve myself, and I believe that effort is showing. I've made mistakes, and those mistakes have had consequences. But they don't change who I am as a person.
I have also had to make choices to remove people from my life for the way that the place that they are in currently in regards to their journey has affected me and in some cases, hurt me very deeply. People immediately say "you shouldn't judge". I believe you can't judge a person's heart. But you can judge their actions and when people are deliberately defending wrongdoing in their own lives which is hurting other people, I feel I am quite within my rights to make the choice to remove them. I can't judge what is happening in their hearts. That's not my place. But what I can do is say to myself that "I don't believe it's beneficial for me or this person if we remain in each other's lives. Their character has proven that they may do this to me again and they also need to face some consequences for their actions". Which I think is a fair point. God forgives us our sins. But there's still consequences for the wrong we've done and sometimes those consequences are irreversible. I know I've done some things in the past with irreversible consequences to friendships and relationships. I've learned from them and grown as a result. But the consequences remain.
I guess my point is that we need to be very careful whom we allow closely into our hearts and before we go off crying out to God for a spouse or anything like that, we need to make sure our own character is in a place of being ready for it and being able to handle it. I believe that God knows our hearts and our lives better than we do. He is capable of bringing the right people into our lives at the right time - people of character. But we must have good character ourselves first. Developing good character is a messy and painful process. It can take years before any change is seen. But it's necessary if we want to live healthy emotional lives and want to truly be able to better ourselves as people and make the world a better place.
Take care.
I believe a person's character is defined by the heart attitudes and belief systems they hold onto which surpass absolutely everything else in their lives. Despite whatever spiritual and emotional issues they may be facing - their character overrides that.
People with good character are not necessarily completely emotionally healthy, fully functional people. They can still have deep emotional wounds that they haven't faced yet, perhaps because they aren't ready to face them at that time. People with good character can still be prone to explosive incidents where they make mistakes and get things terribly wrong. But their real character overrides that - because it's defined by what they do with the mistakes that they have made.
Trials and tribulations are designed to rock our human lives to the core so that we face who we are as human beings and are given an opportunity to face and change the darker parts of our lives. The deepest issues in our lives can never be exposed unless our world is shaken to the core, and that shaking process can be both violent and terrifying. Even the most spiritually and emotionally aware human being who already has a good strong knowledge of themselves and their own emotional make up can find themselves in very darkened places within their own hearts thanks to the shaking happening in their circumstances - and that's exactly how it's meant to be.
Character is defined by how we respond to this shaking and how we respond to the ugliness that's revealed within ourselves when the darkest parts of our own hearts are revealed to us. A person with good character may have found themselves overreacting thanks to a situation that they'd never faced before which brought up something within their own lives that they needed to address. They perhaps weren't able to address it right in the heat of the moment and overreacted. Which is common. However, their character is defined as to how they respond to their overreaction. Do they shirk blame and responsibility, blame others for the state of their own hearts and walk away ignoring this opportunity for personal growth due to being blinded by their own pride, or do they use it as an opportunity to better themselves by learning to look within and ask God to help identify the emotional driving forces that pushed them to this point so that they can work through them and be healed of them? When confronted with their own sin, do they own up and take responsibility (regardless of who is confronting them about their sin) or do they knowingly and willingly defend doing what they know is wrong? To respond in the first manner shows poor, undeveloped character. To respond in the second way shows good character.
The next definition of character is what happens from that point on. Do those who have done wrong learn from their mistakes, heal themselves of the pain that surfaced when their life is shaken and automatically respond better next time, or do they apologize and give the illusion of having changed yet just continue to make the same mistakes all over again and respond the exact same way when next faced with that obstacle (which they'll undoubtedly face once again if they haven't fully worked through it)? This is something that in a lot of ways can only really be observed over time. It's easy to give the appearance of having made significant change in one's life but appearances can be deceiving at times. Once push comes to shove again, you'll see what they are really made of and if they've changed at all.
Everyone is at different stages along this journey. Some are further along than others. I would like to believe that my character is defined by the continual desire to become a stronger, healthier, more well adjusted person. I've learned how to take good things out of hard times and I've certainly faced some times over the past few years that have pushed me well out of what I believed I was capable of coping with at the time and into some dark, terrifying emotional landscapes in my own heart. Sometimes I've reacted badly. Does this make me a bad person and does this cause me to have bad character? I don't believe it does. For the simple reason that despite all these experiences where I know I've made mistakes, I've learned a great deal about myself and become much stronger and healthier as a result. Those who know me well and have observed me over time have noticed a drastic change over the past few years. I could easily have decided to sit and sulk in my misery but I made the effort to improve myself, and I believe that effort is showing. I've made mistakes, and those mistakes have had consequences. But they don't change who I am as a person.
I have also had to make choices to remove people from my life for the way that the place that they are in currently in regards to their journey has affected me and in some cases, hurt me very deeply. People immediately say "you shouldn't judge". I believe you can't judge a person's heart. But you can judge their actions and when people are deliberately defending wrongdoing in their own lives which is hurting other people, I feel I am quite within my rights to make the choice to remove them. I can't judge what is happening in their hearts. That's not my place. But what I can do is say to myself that "I don't believe it's beneficial for me or this person if we remain in each other's lives. Their character has proven that they may do this to me again and they also need to face some consequences for their actions". Which I think is a fair point. God forgives us our sins. But there's still consequences for the wrong we've done and sometimes those consequences are irreversible. I know I've done some things in the past with irreversible consequences to friendships and relationships. I've learned from them and grown as a result. But the consequences remain.
I guess my point is that we need to be very careful whom we allow closely into our hearts and before we go off crying out to God for a spouse or anything like that, we need to make sure our own character is in a place of being ready for it and being able to handle it. I believe that God knows our hearts and our lives better than we do. He is capable of bringing the right people into our lives at the right time - people of character. But we must have good character ourselves first. Developing good character is a messy and painful process. It can take years before any change is seen. But it's necessary if we want to live healthy emotional lives and want to truly be able to better ourselves as people and make the world a better place.
Take care.
March 28, 2013
The driving force
No, this isn't a blog post about cars! I'm talking about our motives as people to go out and achieve things in life - some things which have simply never been done before.
I often think back to the Star Wars - Special Features DVD I have as part of my collection which details George Lucas' making of the three original Star Wars movies - in particular, the first one. To be quite honest, it appeared to be absolutely shambolic. They went way over budget, way over deadline, most of the actors thought the dialogue (and indeed the whole movie) was a bit strange and they were constantly beset with problems - especially when a sandstorm destroyed their movie set out in Tunisia. They were also inventing all kinds of new technology to get the cinematic shots they wanted. No easy task.
I began to think of just how incredibly easy it would have been for Lucas to just give up and pack the whole project in - especially seeing as at one point he was hospitalized for chest pains. The whole thing just seemed to be an absolute mess and now his health was at risk as a result. Yet he simply did not quit. He just kept on going, kept persevering despite how drained he was becoming and eventually this project began to take real shape and ended up becoming one of the most classic movies of all time which set George up to make the next two films (and the prequels many years after that - but we won't get into those right now!!)
I thought to myself - if I were in his shoes I probably would have quit about a week into production. I would have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task I was trying to accomplish and would have quickly decided that this was a bad idea from the get-go, and that it was best to kill it off before any further damage was done and any further time and money wasted. I find it baffling that George didn't do this himself. Perhaps he did consider giving up, but he persevered and came out the other end with something that, in many ways, changed the world and certainly changed the way we look at movies.
The reason I believe he never quit was because he had the driving force to do this. He just knew it was what he was meant to be doing and that he wanted to make this film, and that despite the problems he had the talent and the resources to make it work. He knew that eventually his dream would be realized. This is what drove him. There was no half-heartedness about him and this project in any way. He knew he was going to finish this movie and that he was going to go far and every single obstacle that stood in his way simply became a stepping stone he eventually got over on the course to reach his goal.
I used to find myself fascinated and very envious of people like this. In the face of constant turmoil and dysfunction, they still continued to keep going and keep believing in what they were doing. They were willing to put everything on the line and risk it all in favor of what they believed in. I wished I could be one of those people. I tried at different times over the years to set goals that I planned to reach with the belief that nothing would stand in my way - but they just ended up petering out into nothing. One of those goals was to become an incredible, potentially genre-defining guitarist and songwriter. Don't get me wrong, I love playing the guitar and I believe I will always love it. But despite the best of intentions that I had to achieve this goal, my heart at the end of the day, wasn't really in it. Deep down, I knew that although I probably had the ability to achieve this goal, I didn't really have the desire to put in the work required to achieve it.
I used to think I was a bit useless for this very reason and that I'd never make my mark on the world, that lots of people were far braver than I was and that I'd never amount to anything simply because I didn't believe in anything enough to see it through to completion. But then I discovered that I had a gift for writing - and that God wanted me to write a book. Immediately I threw myself into this project wholeheartedly, writing almost constantly, chopping and changing here and there, developing ideas and cutting them out if necessary, mixing paragraphs and chapters around. The whole time, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to see in this book, and I just had that fire and that drive to do it. A lot of people start writing books and never finish them. For me this simply wasn't an option. This book was going to be finished, and that was that.
As many of you know, once the book was complete it was uploaded to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and I made a few sales and received some very positive reviews - marking the book as a "fascinating read" and "a journey that smashes the boundaries of mental illness". Eventually, my book was picked up by a huge publishing firm in Florida, USA and has now been printed as a paperback and is scheduled for a worldwide release in the very near future. I sunk countless hours into this work and would often spend entire evenings and weekends writing, reading, re-writing and re-reading even though I was still holding down a very demanding full time job. I realized that I was doing exactly what George Lucas was doing and why he just wouldn't quit. I had the same, unstoppable driving force to achieve my goal as what he did - for him it was to make movies, for me it was to write books.
Now as the book borders on a worldwide release and I'm getting people requesting signed paperback copies already, I am about to reap the rewards of the hard work I've done. All of those long evenings sitting over a stack of paper with a red pen, cutting and pasting on the computer and constantly formulating different ideas in my head are all about to start paying off. And its all because of that driving force I had.
I realize that the driving force of just knowing you are meant to do something and that no one can tell you otherwise is what has got me this far. It's not just "hard work and determination". You have to really believe in what you are doing - it's almost like it consumes you, you can't imagine ever not doing what you're doing and it doesn't really seem like work (even though it is). I didn't know what my driving force was until I discovered it was writing. I believe there are many people who also feel a bit useless and possibly feel like failures as I have done - but in many cases I don't believe it's because they just gave up. I believe that its often simply because they don't know what it is that they really want to do with their lives because they don't yet know what they are created to do. Once they find that - then it's all on.
So if you are out there and you are feeling as though you are a bit of a failure because you haven't found that all consuming drive to do something in your own life yet - don't panic. Each person is on their own personal journey. It could be that you have a little more growing to do as a person before your true heart's desire that no one can quench will be revealed to you. But I believe your all consuming desire is in you - you just have to find it. Once it's revealed to you - you'll know without a shadow of a doubt. There won't be any uncertainty, confusion or disillusionment - you'll know where you "fit" and no one will be able to tell you otherwise.
Take care.
I often think back to the Star Wars - Special Features DVD I have as part of my collection which details George Lucas' making of the three original Star Wars movies - in particular, the first one. To be quite honest, it appeared to be absolutely shambolic. They went way over budget, way over deadline, most of the actors thought the dialogue (and indeed the whole movie) was a bit strange and they were constantly beset with problems - especially when a sandstorm destroyed their movie set out in Tunisia. They were also inventing all kinds of new technology to get the cinematic shots they wanted. No easy task.
I began to think of just how incredibly easy it would have been for Lucas to just give up and pack the whole project in - especially seeing as at one point he was hospitalized for chest pains. The whole thing just seemed to be an absolute mess and now his health was at risk as a result. Yet he simply did not quit. He just kept on going, kept persevering despite how drained he was becoming and eventually this project began to take real shape and ended up becoming one of the most classic movies of all time which set George up to make the next two films (and the prequels many years after that - but we won't get into those right now!!)
I thought to myself - if I were in his shoes I probably would have quit about a week into production. I would have been overwhelmed by the magnitude of the task I was trying to accomplish and would have quickly decided that this was a bad idea from the get-go, and that it was best to kill it off before any further damage was done and any further time and money wasted. I find it baffling that George didn't do this himself. Perhaps he did consider giving up, but he persevered and came out the other end with something that, in many ways, changed the world and certainly changed the way we look at movies.
The reason I believe he never quit was because he had the driving force to do this. He just knew it was what he was meant to be doing and that he wanted to make this film, and that despite the problems he had the talent and the resources to make it work. He knew that eventually his dream would be realized. This is what drove him. There was no half-heartedness about him and this project in any way. He knew he was going to finish this movie and that he was going to go far and every single obstacle that stood in his way simply became a stepping stone he eventually got over on the course to reach his goal.
I used to find myself fascinated and very envious of people like this. In the face of constant turmoil and dysfunction, they still continued to keep going and keep believing in what they were doing. They were willing to put everything on the line and risk it all in favor of what they believed in. I wished I could be one of those people. I tried at different times over the years to set goals that I planned to reach with the belief that nothing would stand in my way - but they just ended up petering out into nothing. One of those goals was to become an incredible, potentially genre-defining guitarist and songwriter. Don't get me wrong, I love playing the guitar and I believe I will always love it. But despite the best of intentions that I had to achieve this goal, my heart at the end of the day, wasn't really in it. Deep down, I knew that although I probably had the ability to achieve this goal, I didn't really have the desire to put in the work required to achieve it.
I used to think I was a bit useless for this very reason and that I'd never make my mark on the world, that lots of people were far braver than I was and that I'd never amount to anything simply because I didn't believe in anything enough to see it through to completion. But then I discovered that I had a gift for writing - and that God wanted me to write a book. Immediately I threw myself into this project wholeheartedly, writing almost constantly, chopping and changing here and there, developing ideas and cutting them out if necessary, mixing paragraphs and chapters around. The whole time, I had a clear vision of what I wanted to see in this book, and I just had that fire and that drive to do it. A lot of people start writing books and never finish them. For me this simply wasn't an option. This book was going to be finished, and that was that.
As many of you know, once the book was complete it was uploaded to Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing and I made a few sales and received some very positive reviews - marking the book as a "fascinating read" and "a journey that smashes the boundaries of mental illness". Eventually, my book was picked up by a huge publishing firm in Florida, USA and has now been printed as a paperback and is scheduled for a worldwide release in the very near future. I sunk countless hours into this work and would often spend entire evenings and weekends writing, reading, re-writing and re-reading even though I was still holding down a very demanding full time job. I realized that I was doing exactly what George Lucas was doing and why he just wouldn't quit. I had the same, unstoppable driving force to achieve my goal as what he did - for him it was to make movies, for me it was to write books.
Now as the book borders on a worldwide release and I'm getting people requesting signed paperback copies already, I am about to reap the rewards of the hard work I've done. All of those long evenings sitting over a stack of paper with a red pen, cutting and pasting on the computer and constantly formulating different ideas in my head are all about to start paying off. And its all because of that driving force I had.
I realize that the driving force of just knowing you are meant to do something and that no one can tell you otherwise is what has got me this far. It's not just "hard work and determination". You have to really believe in what you are doing - it's almost like it consumes you, you can't imagine ever not doing what you're doing and it doesn't really seem like work (even though it is). I didn't know what my driving force was until I discovered it was writing. I believe there are many people who also feel a bit useless and possibly feel like failures as I have done - but in many cases I don't believe it's because they just gave up. I believe that its often simply because they don't know what it is that they really want to do with their lives because they don't yet know what they are created to do. Once they find that - then it's all on.
So if you are out there and you are feeling as though you are a bit of a failure because you haven't found that all consuming drive to do something in your own life yet - don't panic. Each person is on their own personal journey. It could be that you have a little more growing to do as a person before your true heart's desire that no one can quench will be revealed to you. But I believe your all consuming desire is in you - you just have to find it. Once it's revealed to you - you'll know without a shadow of a doubt. There won't be any uncertainty, confusion or disillusionment - you'll know where you "fit" and no one will be able to tell you otherwise.
Take care.
February 16, 2013
The story of the bird
I just heard this story for the first time a few weeks ago, and I think it's not only worth sharing, but it's worth expanding on a bit as there's some really awesome truth in here.
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold; the bird froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
The morals of this story are:
Not everyone who drops crap on you is your enemy.
Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.
And when you're in crap over your head, keep your mouth shut!
I certainly know how it feels to be in the situation of every animal described in this story. I've very often been the bird itself, a sufferer of incredibly unfortunate and seemingly unforgiving events. I've also been the cow and dropped people in crap big time. There are also unfortunate times when I've been the cat.
The first point - not everyone who drops crap on you is your enemy - is very, very true although it's not always easy to see it that way. I see this statement in regards to how the military is run, and I'm sure the friends I have who have served in the Armed Forces will agree with me. Your sergeant drops you in crap - big time. He is hard on you and it's all for the purpose of completely breaking you down. Which hurts like crazy. But he's not your enemy. He's doing this because once you've been completely broken down and destroyed, they want to build you up into the man that they want you to be. God often treats people the same way. I've been lead into some absolutely rotten circumstances over the past few years and the only reason I can say that I've been there, is because God has lead me there. But He's not my enemy even though sometimes it really does feel like it. Sometimes dropping someone in the crap can be the best thing that you can ever possibly do for them.
The second point, is also true. There are people out there who will never tell you that you're wrong (even when you quite obviously are), will always rescue you even when you need to face the consequences of your own actions and will agree with every single thing that you say. These people are often referred to as "yes" men. Though they can seem to be comforting at times, in reality they are the strongest antithesis to spiritual and emotional growth. If someone has severe issues in their heart and is refusing to face them, mollycoddling them and telling them that "everything is ok, it's all everyone else's fault" or some rubbish like that isn't going to help them. It's just going to keep them holding onto their issues at all costs because they don't have to face them knowing that they've got someone around them who will always help them escape from their issues.
I fully agree with the statement "nice guys finish last". Sorry to all of you Sensitive New Age Guy types out there, but it's true. God is loving - but He's by no means "nice". A friend told me that in 2006 and I've never forgotten it, as it just continually reveals itself to be true. Some of the best people I know in my life - the people I feel safest around and would trust with my life - are far from being "nice" people. They are strong, honest, grumpy, whatever you want to call it - but they call a spade a spade. I know that if they drop me in crap, it's because they give a crap about me in the first place. I also know that if they refuse to rescue me from my crap - it's for the same reason. They know I'll learn more if I fight through it myself. God is not "nice" by any means. If He was "nice" He wouldn't have allowed Jesus to die a brutal death on a cross so that others could live.
The last point is the one I will quite openly admit that I struggle with the most - keeping your mouth shut while in deep crap. However, there is an interesting side to this issue. There are times in deep crap when you really do need to talk, as people can have very valuable advice and insight which can really help you either get out from what you're facing (if you're meant to of course) or show you how to get through it by changing your heart and belief systems while in the crap. But it's also very easy to speak to the wrong people and tell them too much, thus opening yourself up to the wrong advice which does nothing in the end but frustrate you and them. Not to say that the so-called "wrong" people mean you any harm - they always want to help. But when in deep pain you need to learn who you can really trust to listen to the Holy Spirit to give you the advice that you need.
It's hard being in this situation, not to mention isolating. When you are in deep pain, as I've been over the past few years with all of the horrible things that have happened to me, you become as insane as a bag full of wet cats. You can very quickly explode and pour yourself out to the wrong people who although they mean well, leave you with a whole lot of advice that just makes things worse. I've made the mistake in the past of sharing too much with the wrong people who have later used what I've shared with them as a weapon when I quite rightly called them out on something that they were doing wrong. It's not something I'll do again. The best suggestion I have when facing pain that is causing you to want to act like this is to not only press into God for yourself and to ask for the right words, but also to ask Him for the right people to speak the right words into your situation.
Job is a good example - his friends really loved him and wanted to help but they couldn't grasp why he was going through what he was going through, and threw out ideas that in other scenarios may have been appropriate but in this particular one, they just didn't make sense and made Job feel even more alone and his friends powerless to help him. He wasn't in terrible pain because of anything He had done but because that was where God wanted him at that given moment in time. But in the end, God came through and I'm willing to bet that not only did Job learn something, but his friends also learned something as well that it's more important to seek God for yourself for answers rather than just throwing answers at someone and hoping that they stick as they seemed to do with Job.
In conclusion - read this story. Remember it next time you find yourself in crap and ask yourself who your real friends really are - you may be surprised.Take care.
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold; the bird froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
The morals of this story are:
Not everyone who drops crap on you is your enemy.
Not everyone who gets you out of crap is your friend.
And when you're in crap over your head, keep your mouth shut!
I certainly know how it feels to be in the situation of every animal described in this story. I've very often been the bird itself, a sufferer of incredibly unfortunate and seemingly unforgiving events. I've also been the cow and dropped people in crap big time. There are also unfortunate times when I've been the cat.
The first point - not everyone who drops crap on you is your enemy - is very, very true although it's not always easy to see it that way. I see this statement in regards to how the military is run, and I'm sure the friends I have who have served in the Armed Forces will agree with me. Your sergeant drops you in crap - big time. He is hard on you and it's all for the purpose of completely breaking you down. Which hurts like crazy. But he's not your enemy. He's doing this because once you've been completely broken down and destroyed, they want to build you up into the man that they want you to be. God often treats people the same way. I've been lead into some absolutely rotten circumstances over the past few years and the only reason I can say that I've been there, is because God has lead me there. But He's not my enemy even though sometimes it really does feel like it. Sometimes dropping someone in the crap can be the best thing that you can ever possibly do for them.
The second point, is also true. There are people out there who will never tell you that you're wrong (even when you quite obviously are), will always rescue you even when you need to face the consequences of your own actions and will agree with every single thing that you say. These people are often referred to as "yes" men. Though they can seem to be comforting at times, in reality they are the strongest antithesis to spiritual and emotional growth. If someone has severe issues in their heart and is refusing to face them, mollycoddling them and telling them that "everything is ok, it's all everyone else's fault" or some rubbish like that isn't going to help them. It's just going to keep them holding onto their issues at all costs because they don't have to face them knowing that they've got someone around them who will always help them escape from their issues.
I fully agree with the statement "nice guys finish last". Sorry to all of you Sensitive New Age Guy types out there, but it's true. God is loving - but He's by no means "nice". A friend told me that in 2006 and I've never forgotten it, as it just continually reveals itself to be true. Some of the best people I know in my life - the people I feel safest around and would trust with my life - are far from being "nice" people. They are strong, honest, grumpy, whatever you want to call it - but they call a spade a spade. I know that if they drop me in crap, it's because they give a crap about me in the first place. I also know that if they refuse to rescue me from my crap - it's for the same reason. They know I'll learn more if I fight through it myself. God is not "nice" by any means. If He was "nice" He wouldn't have allowed Jesus to die a brutal death on a cross so that others could live.
The last point is the one I will quite openly admit that I struggle with the most - keeping your mouth shut while in deep crap. However, there is an interesting side to this issue. There are times in deep crap when you really do need to talk, as people can have very valuable advice and insight which can really help you either get out from what you're facing (if you're meant to of course) or show you how to get through it by changing your heart and belief systems while in the crap. But it's also very easy to speak to the wrong people and tell them too much, thus opening yourself up to the wrong advice which does nothing in the end but frustrate you and them. Not to say that the so-called "wrong" people mean you any harm - they always want to help. But when in deep pain you need to learn who you can really trust to listen to the Holy Spirit to give you the advice that you need.
It's hard being in this situation, not to mention isolating. When you are in deep pain, as I've been over the past few years with all of the horrible things that have happened to me, you become as insane as a bag full of wet cats. You can very quickly explode and pour yourself out to the wrong people who although they mean well, leave you with a whole lot of advice that just makes things worse. I've made the mistake in the past of sharing too much with the wrong people who have later used what I've shared with them as a weapon when I quite rightly called them out on something that they were doing wrong. It's not something I'll do again. The best suggestion I have when facing pain that is causing you to want to act like this is to not only press into God for yourself and to ask for the right words, but also to ask Him for the right people to speak the right words into your situation.
Job is a good example - his friends really loved him and wanted to help but they couldn't grasp why he was going through what he was going through, and threw out ideas that in other scenarios may have been appropriate but in this particular one, they just didn't make sense and made Job feel even more alone and his friends powerless to help him. He wasn't in terrible pain because of anything He had done but because that was where God wanted him at that given moment in time. But in the end, God came through and I'm willing to bet that not only did Job learn something, but his friends also learned something as well that it's more important to seek God for yourself for answers rather than just throwing answers at someone and hoping that they stick as they seemed to do with Job.
In conclusion - read this story. Remember it next time you find yourself in crap and ask yourself who your real friends really are - you may be surprised.Take care.
January 13, 2013
God's warning signs
I'm writing this blog based on an experience I had just last night, so it's all very fresh in the mind and therefore a good time to write about it. I spent yesterday in Taupo for a wedding between two amazing friends of mine whom I love and respect immensely. It was a rather busy few days for me as I had the wedding to attend as a groomsman on the Saturday, plus I had to work on Sunday morning straight afterwards. I stayed for the reception and left to drive back home to Tauranga about 9:30pm. The drive was expected to take about 2 and a half hours.
By this stage I was running on little sleep from the night before as well as being very tired due to working the full week, driving to Taupo straight after work on Friday and being busy with the wedding all day Saturday so I was pretty severely tired and very much looking forward to my own bed. Just over halfway into the journey I found myself driving faster and faster to the point where I was hitting corners much faster than I usually do. It was at this point I felt God begin to speak to my heart in a still, small voice -
"Graham, you're driving much too fast - slow down."
So of course, my reply being rather cocky as I know the road so well, not to mention overtired, was the following -
"I'm fine, I know what I'm doing, I can handle this! I just want to get home as soon as possible so I can sleep!"
God's response was this -
"You'll be lucky to get home at all if you keep driving the way that you are."
I ignored God's response and found myself in a corner where I noticed the weight notably shift in the car to the point where I was almost losing traction. However, I reassured myself once again with "I got this!!" and continued powering ahead.
Sure enough, just a couple of corners down the road I found myself approaching the corner much too fast and trying to turn my highbeams down as there was a car coming the other way. Being overtired and trying to multitask I decided to just put my foot on the brakes as hard as possible. I felt the tyres lock up and the entire car start sliding towards the other side of the road. Fortunately, I've spent many an hour playing drift racing and driving simulator games on the Playstation, so I knew exactly what to do and counter-steered into the skid while pumping the brakes. The car started skidding in the other direction so I did the same thing again all the time with my foot off the accelerator so I was slowing down. Despite a few wild weaves all over the place I managed to straighten up, regain traction and continue on my merry way, albeit slightly shaken!!
I learned something through all of this - and not just about not driving when severely overtired. God warned me - clearly - and I ignored Him because I didn't like what He was saying and felt I didn't need His warning because I was in control. Next thing I know I am faced with a potentially life-threatening situation where I could easily have been killed if I were less capable when it comes to driving a car. I certainly couldn't have blamed God if I had crashed and been seriously injured or killed, or hurt someone else - all He'd simply say was "I warned you."
God doesn't warn us of things because He wants to spoil our fun. He warns us because He loves us and doesn't want us to make stupid mistakes. There are also times when God blocks off paths to us so that we are simply unable to walk them because He knows that path would ruin us and He loves us too much to let that happen. However, there are times when God takes His hand off situations and though He does warn us, He will not rescue us from the consequences of our own actions and will allow us to face the consequences of the disobedience of ignoring His direct and clear warning.
When a bridge is out on a roadway and therefore very dangerous, assuming it hasn't just recently happened there are almost always clearly stated warnings around saying that the bridge is out and that we cannot proceed further because it is dangerous. Sometimes there can even be barriers up to stop us. But a sign can only show us the way - it can't make us walk in it. We are free to ignore the sign if we so choose but we are placing ourselves in very serious danger. Even if there are barriers up, if we are determined we can still find a way through or around them. The sad part of this story is that eventually we are going to come face to face with that destroyed bridge at full speed and face the consequences of flying over the end of it.
God's warnings are the same. His warnings are clear, and direct, and should always be acknowledged and never ignored - but we can ignore them if we choose to and continue to plow into corners much faster than we should be and find ourselves losing control and nearly in the paths of oncoming traffic. God knew that I wouldn't listen to Him. Fortunately, I was not killed as a result of my ignorance. I could have been made to pay very heavily for my disobedience but I was lucky to escape with my life.
Over the past few months, God has impressed upon me very strongly that I needed to warn some people of their actions and that they needed to change their ways or they would find themselves in a lot of trouble.It hurts when you feel God has called you to warn someone about something and they ignore the warning and continue to charge ahead - seemingly without consequences. A person's warning to another person can often be completely unfounded and very easily ignored, and sometimes their warning is just based on their desire to achieve their own emotional gratification so the warning should not be taken seriously. However - there are times when God makes it very clear to someone that they need to warn another person about what they are doing and uses that person's voice to speak to them. Their warning can be ignored - but to ignore that is to ignore God's voice through them which can have very serious consequences.
God sends out loud warning signs if we are prepared to listen but sometimes He knows that we never will and will stubbornly continue doing what we are doing, regardless of what He says. I believe God then looks upon those who refuse to heed his warnings with both frustration and pity - frustration that they refuse to listen to what's best for them and pity that they are missing out on God's best because they can't get over their own stubbornness. God's mercy and forgiveness are always available to those who ask - even those who have deliberately ignored His warning - but the consequences of their disobedience will always be there.
It hurt me a lot when I felt that my warnings were ignored, but I now realize from my experiences last night just how costly (and almost deadly) ignoring the voice of God can be just because you don't like what it's saying, or for that matter, who is saying it (if God has chosen to use a person to speak through). I used to get so angry at feeling that every route was so strongly blocked off in my life to the point where I couldn't take them - even if I wanted to. Now I realize that although I often felt like the biggest loser on the planet, God was keeping me from things (and people) that would have been incredibly destructive and potentially had life-long consequences. Better a bit of pain from being belted with the rod of discipline than seeing the rod spared and one's entire life being destroyed as a result.
So my word to you is - listen. If you know in your heart, below all of your pride that God is warning you - listen and obey. Even if you don't like what He's warning you about - listen and obey anyway. Or you could have ended up like I (almost) did - or worse.
Take care.
By this stage I was running on little sleep from the night before as well as being very tired due to working the full week, driving to Taupo straight after work on Friday and being busy with the wedding all day Saturday so I was pretty severely tired and very much looking forward to my own bed. Just over halfway into the journey I found myself driving faster and faster to the point where I was hitting corners much faster than I usually do. It was at this point I felt God begin to speak to my heart in a still, small voice -
"Graham, you're driving much too fast - slow down."
So of course, my reply being rather cocky as I know the road so well, not to mention overtired, was the following -
"I'm fine, I know what I'm doing, I can handle this! I just want to get home as soon as possible so I can sleep!"
God's response was this -
"You'll be lucky to get home at all if you keep driving the way that you are."
I ignored God's response and found myself in a corner where I noticed the weight notably shift in the car to the point where I was almost losing traction. However, I reassured myself once again with "I got this!!" and continued powering ahead.
Sure enough, just a couple of corners down the road I found myself approaching the corner much too fast and trying to turn my highbeams down as there was a car coming the other way. Being overtired and trying to multitask I decided to just put my foot on the brakes as hard as possible. I felt the tyres lock up and the entire car start sliding towards the other side of the road. Fortunately, I've spent many an hour playing drift racing and driving simulator games on the Playstation, so I knew exactly what to do and counter-steered into the skid while pumping the brakes. The car started skidding in the other direction so I did the same thing again all the time with my foot off the accelerator so I was slowing down. Despite a few wild weaves all over the place I managed to straighten up, regain traction and continue on my merry way, albeit slightly shaken!!
I learned something through all of this - and not just about not driving when severely overtired. God warned me - clearly - and I ignored Him because I didn't like what He was saying and felt I didn't need His warning because I was in control. Next thing I know I am faced with a potentially life-threatening situation where I could easily have been killed if I were less capable when it comes to driving a car. I certainly couldn't have blamed God if I had crashed and been seriously injured or killed, or hurt someone else - all He'd simply say was "I warned you."
God doesn't warn us of things because He wants to spoil our fun. He warns us because He loves us and doesn't want us to make stupid mistakes. There are also times when God blocks off paths to us so that we are simply unable to walk them because He knows that path would ruin us and He loves us too much to let that happen. However, there are times when God takes His hand off situations and though He does warn us, He will not rescue us from the consequences of our own actions and will allow us to face the consequences of the disobedience of ignoring His direct and clear warning.
When a bridge is out on a roadway and therefore very dangerous, assuming it hasn't just recently happened there are almost always clearly stated warnings around saying that the bridge is out and that we cannot proceed further because it is dangerous. Sometimes there can even be barriers up to stop us. But a sign can only show us the way - it can't make us walk in it. We are free to ignore the sign if we so choose but we are placing ourselves in very serious danger. Even if there are barriers up, if we are determined we can still find a way through or around them. The sad part of this story is that eventually we are going to come face to face with that destroyed bridge at full speed and face the consequences of flying over the end of it.
God's warnings are the same. His warnings are clear, and direct, and should always be acknowledged and never ignored - but we can ignore them if we choose to and continue to plow into corners much faster than we should be and find ourselves losing control and nearly in the paths of oncoming traffic. God knew that I wouldn't listen to Him. Fortunately, I was not killed as a result of my ignorance. I could have been made to pay very heavily for my disobedience but I was lucky to escape with my life.
Over the past few months, God has impressed upon me very strongly that I needed to warn some people of their actions and that they needed to change their ways or they would find themselves in a lot of trouble.It hurts when you feel God has called you to warn someone about something and they ignore the warning and continue to charge ahead - seemingly without consequences. A person's warning to another person can often be completely unfounded and very easily ignored, and sometimes their warning is just based on their desire to achieve their own emotional gratification so the warning should not be taken seriously. However - there are times when God makes it very clear to someone that they need to warn another person about what they are doing and uses that person's voice to speak to them. Their warning can be ignored - but to ignore that is to ignore God's voice through them which can have very serious consequences.
God sends out loud warning signs if we are prepared to listen but sometimes He knows that we never will and will stubbornly continue doing what we are doing, regardless of what He says. I believe God then looks upon those who refuse to heed his warnings with both frustration and pity - frustration that they refuse to listen to what's best for them and pity that they are missing out on God's best because they can't get over their own stubbornness. God's mercy and forgiveness are always available to those who ask - even those who have deliberately ignored His warning - but the consequences of their disobedience will always be there.
It hurt me a lot when I felt that my warnings were ignored, but I now realize from my experiences last night just how costly (and almost deadly) ignoring the voice of God can be just because you don't like what it's saying, or for that matter, who is saying it (if God has chosen to use a person to speak through). I used to get so angry at feeling that every route was so strongly blocked off in my life to the point where I couldn't take them - even if I wanted to. Now I realize that although I often felt like the biggest loser on the planet, God was keeping me from things (and people) that would have been incredibly destructive and potentially had life-long consequences. Better a bit of pain from being belted with the rod of discipline than seeing the rod spared and one's entire life being destroyed as a result.
So my word to you is - listen. If you know in your heart, below all of your pride that God is warning you - listen and obey. Even if you don't like what He's warning you about - listen and obey anyway. Or you could have ended up like I (almost) did - or worse.
Take care.
January 7, 2013
"Going against the grain until the end...."
The title of this blog is a lyric from a song I used to listen to often in my long-haired, headbanging days of old - "Damage, Inc." by Metallica. I always enjoyed this particular song as it has some pretty intense guitar playing and drumming, but even as I began to move on musically I never forgot some of the lyrics, that line in particular.
As I have become stronger over the past year and a half since everything happened to me I have come to realize that it is my mission in particular and in a lot of ways, the mission of God's people in general to "go against the grain." Modern society sets its own expectations of people nowadays, and people set their own expectations of each other. Often, these expectations are not morally right, but people are expected to live up to them anyway.
This is where God's people are called to be different, or to "go against the grain". We are called to live by the Spirit of God, not the expectations and demands of man. Living by the Spirit and therefore going against the grain when necessary can have consequences as you are almost guaranteed to ruffle people's feathers and cause them to lash out at you for not acting in the way that they think that you should act. Going against the grain can get messy for that very reason and it can require personal sacrifice on the part of those willing to stand against the tide. It also requires terrible risk as you risk offending those with the power to hurt you. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
Something I've heard over the years that constantly irritates me to no end is this concept taught in church that rebellion is "evil" and "wrong" and should be avoided at all costs. If you look closely in the Bible, it's full of rebels. One of the main rebels that holds a very important place in Scripture was the prophet Jeremiah. This guy had rebellion down to a fine art. Every other so-called "prophet" in the nation was prophesying prosperity, God's blessing, good fortune and good health upon the people. These people weren't hearing from God. They were telling the people what they wanted to hear, and in turn, keeping everybody happy through their prosperity doctrine.
Jeremiah, however, was truly listening to God. And the REAL word of the Lord to the people was not a word of prosperity at all - but words foretelling destruction and judgment upon Israel, due to their sins, selfishness and stubbornness. God was angry at His people because they wouldn't listen and God was equally as angry at those who told lies to the people in terms of false prophecies to keep them happy. Jeremiah knew the risks involved of being the only prophet foretelling destruction while everyone else foretold peace and prosperity. He probably could have ignored the burning in his heart and gone along with them and kept everyone happy and had himself well thought of by others. But I don't think he could have lived with himself if he'd done that.
He knew the risks and he did it anyway. Needless to say, the people weren't pleased. He faced continual persecution in nearly every sense from people including being thrown into a well in the hope that he would die. But nothing stopped him. He continued to rebel against the established order of the day and continued to go against the grain of false teaching and prosperity by speaking the truth about what God was saying to His people - that they would be destroyed for their sins. Jeremiah's word eventually came true - and Israel was overthrown by the Babylonians, who ironically chose to release Jeremiah from imprisonment and showed him great kindness.
If that's not rebellion I don't know what is. But it was a righteous rebellion. Jeremiah did not become world famous through making friends. If he had passively gone along with the false prophets of the day, he may have been remembered in the bible but for the wrong reasons. His story lives on to this day as an example of sacrifice and strength by someone with integrity who cared about doing God's will regardless of what it cost him and who stood in his way. That's a man of character - someone I aspire to be. A man willing to go against the grain for the sake of what's right.
I've learned so much on this subject recently. I've had to learn to stand and go against the grain many times and it's cost me several friendships. But it's not going to stop me doing what's right and I'd rather be hated for doing the right thing and obeying God than be loved for sitting back, being passive and silent and never saying boo to a goose. God has told me directly to speak very firmly to some people who have wronged me recently and I strongly believe are still doing wrong in their own lives and ignoring God's word to them. I resisted doing this for a long time because I was scared and because I didn't want to go against the grain. God's words to me were three, simple words that I don't think I will ever forget - "Get over yourself!"
It would be easy for me to be passive like I used to be and sit back and say "God bless you" to everyone, even those who claim to call themselves Christians and are knowingly doing wrong but refusing to stop doing it. I never used to think it was my job to stand against people the way that I have been doing so recently. But now I realize that although you need to make sure God is behind it and you're not just lashing out of your frustration, taking a stand against the grain can be the right thing to do and something that will simply burn inside your heart and become heavier until you do it - same as it was with Jeremiah.
So the choice is yours, readers. There are times when you just know that something you can see is wrong and someone needs to speak out against it. Will you sit back, be passive and let it happen or get over yourself, go against the grain and speak out, then walk away with a clear conscience knowing you've done the right thing in God's eyes?
Take care.
As I have become stronger over the past year and a half since everything happened to me I have come to realize that it is my mission in particular and in a lot of ways, the mission of God's people in general to "go against the grain." Modern society sets its own expectations of people nowadays, and people set their own expectations of each other. Often, these expectations are not morally right, but people are expected to live up to them anyway.
This is where God's people are called to be different, or to "go against the grain". We are called to live by the Spirit of God, not the expectations and demands of man. Living by the Spirit and therefore going against the grain when necessary can have consequences as you are almost guaranteed to ruffle people's feathers and cause them to lash out at you for not acting in the way that they think that you should act. Going against the grain can get messy for that very reason and it can require personal sacrifice on the part of those willing to stand against the tide. It also requires terrible risk as you risk offending those with the power to hurt you. But that doesn't mean it's the right thing to do.
Something I've heard over the years that constantly irritates me to no end is this concept taught in church that rebellion is "evil" and "wrong" and should be avoided at all costs. If you look closely in the Bible, it's full of rebels. One of the main rebels that holds a very important place in Scripture was the prophet Jeremiah. This guy had rebellion down to a fine art. Every other so-called "prophet" in the nation was prophesying prosperity, God's blessing, good fortune and good health upon the people. These people weren't hearing from God. They were telling the people what they wanted to hear, and in turn, keeping everybody happy through their prosperity doctrine.
Jeremiah, however, was truly listening to God. And the REAL word of the Lord to the people was not a word of prosperity at all - but words foretelling destruction and judgment upon Israel, due to their sins, selfishness and stubbornness. God was angry at His people because they wouldn't listen and God was equally as angry at those who told lies to the people in terms of false prophecies to keep them happy. Jeremiah knew the risks involved of being the only prophet foretelling destruction while everyone else foretold peace and prosperity. He probably could have ignored the burning in his heart and gone along with them and kept everyone happy and had himself well thought of by others. But I don't think he could have lived with himself if he'd done that.
He knew the risks and he did it anyway. Needless to say, the people weren't pleased. He faced continual persecution in nearly every sense from people including being thrown into a well in the hope that he would die. But nothing stopped him. He continued to rebel against the established order of the day and continued to go against the grain of false teaching and prosperity by speaking the truth about what God was saying to His people - that they would be destroyed for their sins. Jeremiah's word eventually came true - and Israel was overthrown by the Babylonians, who ironically chose to release Jeremiah from imprisonment and showed him great kindness.
If that's not rebellion I don't know what is. But it was a righteous rebellion. Jeremiah did not become world famous through making friends. If he had passively gone along with the false prophets of the day, he may have been remembered in the bible but for the wrong reasons. His story lives on to this day as an example of sacrifice and strength by someone with integrity who cared about doing God's will regardless of what it cost him and who stood in his way. That's a man of character - someone I aspire to be. A man willing to go against the grain for the sake of what's right.
I've learned so much on this subject recently. I've had to learn to stand and go against the grain many times and it's cost me several friendships. But it's not going to stop me doing what's right and I'd rather be hated for doing the right thing and obeying God than be loved for sitting back, being passive and silent and never saying boo to a goose. God has told me directly to speak very firmly to some people who have wronged me recently and I strongly believe are still doing wrong in their own lives and ignoring God's word to them. I resisted doing this for a long time because I was scared and because I didn't want to go against the grain. God's words to me were three, simple words that I don't think I will ever forget - "Get over yourself!"
It would be easy for me to be passive like I used to be and sit back and say "God bless you" to everyone, even those who claim to call themselves Christians and are knowingly doing wrong but refusing to stop doing it. I never used to think it was my job to stand against people the way that I have been doing so recently. But now I realize that although you need to make sure God is behind it and you're not just lashing out of your frustration, taking a stand against the grain can be the right thing to do and something that will simply burn inside your heart and become heavier until you do it - same as it was with Jeremiah.
So the choice is yours, readers. There are times when you just know that something you can see is wrong and someone needs to speak out against it. Will you sit back, be passive and let it happen or get over yourself, go against the grain and speak out, then walk away with a clear conscience knowing you've done the right thing in God's eyes?
Take care.
December 24, 2012
Productive pain
Pain is something we all go through as human beings. Be it physical or emotional, pain is something that none of us are exempt from. Sometimes we find ourselves in pain as a result of our own stupid choices, other times we find ourselves in pain through no fault of our own whatsoever and due to circumstances beyond our control. How we respond to pain, however, is up to us - we can choose to sit and suffer with it forever or use it for our own gain and for the gain of others.
As I've said before, one of my favorite movie trilogies is Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Brilliant movies in every sense. One of the most powerful examples of someone using pain productively is Christopher Nolan's depiction of Bruce Wayne (who of course leads a double life as Batman) played brilliantly by Christian Bale. He was forced to watch the deliberate murder of his parents as a helpless young boy, unable to stop the man who killed his parents in front of him.
This deeply affected Bruce - the anger and the guilt that it was his fear that lead them to the darkened alleyway where they were murdered, plus his distress about being too little and helpless to do anything about it. Bruce was in pain - terrible pain. He could have sat around and moped for the rest of his life and done nothing with the pain other than suffer from it - but his pain motivated him to travel the world and learn about both himself and the criminal mind. His deep hatred of injustice and criminality drove him to train as a ninja and finally return to Gotham as the masked vigilante Batman who fought with everything he had to clean up the streets and by all accounts did a pretty incredible job. By the end of his time as Batman he gave his life to save the city (or so the people thought) and ended up having a statue erected in his honor, while he secretly began a new life on the other side of the world, married and happy.
Bruce spent years living in darkness and in pain as a result of his parents death and he used that pain to drive him to do something that had a lasting impact in the city he grew up in - an impact that remained long after he departed. Eventually he was able to let go of the pain and anger and move forwards with his life but while he was still stuck in that dark place he used his pain as a vehicle to bring good into the world around him. This is a prime example of someone dealt a bitter hand by life yet managed to find a productive outlet for his pain and in his pain, the productivity it produced created something amazing. Even though it's (obviously) only a fictional story, it's a powerful message nonetheless.
A true example of productive pain was King David in the bible. Relentlessly and unjustly pursued by Saul, David fled into the caves and hid from Saul's men in a desperate attempt to save his own life. David knew he had done nothing to deserve any of this and that he did not belong in these darkened caves yet he had been forced there anyway, due to the sinful actions of another person. He could easily have spent that time just sulking and moping around, being depressed. Instead he chose to turn that pain into productivity by writing the Psalms. Some of the Psalms speak of great light and peace - others however are irredeemably dark and introspective. David's brutal honesty with both God and himself throughout this time of terrible pain (which did pass eventually) created a powerful legacy which has spread worldwide and still speaks to people thousands of years after David's death. If that's not pain at it's productive best then I don't know what is.
I have spent my life in terrible pain. Even most of my years as a Christian were spent wondering what on earth was so wrong with me and why I was constantly in almost unbearable inner tension and agony. I couldn't see a sense and a purpose in my life - until God put it on my heart that I was to write a book and tell my story to the world - a story which has now been picked up by a major publishing firm in the USA. Writing the book was very hard - it sapped an enormous amount of my time and energy, so much so that over a year after finishing writing the book I still haven't found the energy to put any serious effort into the follow up. The book was written in a very dark place, where the pain and confusion were beginning to become overwhelming. Then, the final revelation which was the key to the tension I'd struggled with my whole life was revealed to me when I was right at the end of writing it and not only did it give me an epic conclusion to the book but it was the beginning of a better life for me.
Now that I am getting better all the time, I am realizing that the time for the terrible pain in my life has finally passed. But I used it in the most productive way that I believe I possibly could - the book I have written in this time is not something that could have been written out of a happy, peaceful heart. It was written by who I used to be - a turbulent, dysfunctional soul. But the work that has come out of that time has the power to really change people's lives. I believe it could leave a real, lasting legacy for me and could really count towards my dream of having my life count for something. Not to say that there hasn't been casualties for me along the way in this journey - there certainly has been. But I realize now that my pain has had a far greater purpose than what I could have imagined.
If you are going through pain today - ask God to help you understand the pain and why you are facing it. Ask Him to help you turn it into productivity. You never know who you might reach and what kind of legacy the productive output from your pain may leave behind you.
Take care and Merry Christmas.
As I've said before, one of my favorite movie trilogies is Christopher Nolan's Batman trilogy. Brilliant movies in every sense. One of the most powerful examples of someone using pain productively is Christopher Nolan's depiction of Bruce Wayne (who of course leads a double life as Batman) played brilliantly by Christian Bale. He was forced to watch the deliberate murder of his parents as a helpless young boy, unable to stop the man who killed his parents in front of him.
This deeply affected Bruce - the anger and the guilt that it was his fear that lead them to the darkened alleyway where they were murdered, plus his distress about being too little and helpless to do anything about it. Bruce was in pain - terrible pain. He could have sat around and moped for the rest of his life and done nothing with the pain other than suffer from it - but his pain motivated him to travel the world and learn about both himself and the criminal mind. His deep hatred of injustice and criminality drove him to train as a ninja and finally return to Gotham as the masked vigilante Batman who fought with everything he had to clean up the streets and by all accounts did a pretty incredible job. By the end of his time as Batman he gave his life to save the city (or so the people thought) and ended up having a statue erected in his honor, while he secretly began a new life on the other side of the world, married and happy.
Bruce spent years living in darkness and in pain as a result of his parents death and he used that pain to drive him to do something that had a lasting impact in the city he grew up in - an impact that remained long after he departed. Eventually he was able to let go of the pain and anger and move forwards with his life but while he was still stuck in that dark place he used his pain as a vehicle to bring good into the world around him. This is a prime example of someone dealt a bitter hand by life yet managed to find a productive outlet for his pain and in his pain, the productivity it produced created something amazing. Even though it's (obviously) only a fictional story, it's a powerful message nonetheless.
A true example of productive pain was King David in the bible. Relentlessly and unjustly pursued by Saul, David fled into the caves and hid from Saul's men in a desperate attempt to save his own life. David knew he had done nothing to deserve any of this and that he did not belong in these darkened caves yet he had been forced there anyway, due to the sinful actions of another person. He could easily have spent that time just sulking and moping around, being depressed. Instead he chose to turn that pain into productivity by writing the Psalms. Some of the Psalms speak of great light and peace - others however are irredeemably dark and introspective. David's brutal honesty with both God and himself throughout this time of terrible pain (which did pass eventually) created a powerful legacy which has spread worldwide and still speaks to people thousands of years after David's death. If that's not pain at it's productive best then I don't know what is.
I have spent my life in terrible pain. Even most of my years as a Christian were spent wondering what on earth was so wrong with me and why I was constantly in almost unbearable inner tension and agony. I couldn't see a sense and a purpose in my life - until God put it on my heart that I was to write a book and tell my story to the world - a story which has now been picked up by a major publishing firm in the USA. Writing the book was very hard - it sapped an enormous amount of my time and energy, so much so that over a year after finishing writing the book I still haven't found the energy to put any serious effort into the follow up. The book was written in a very dark place, where the pain and confusion were beginning to become overwhelming. Then, the final revelation which was the key to the tension I'd struggled with my whole life was revealed to me when I was right at the end of writing it and not only did it give me an epic conclusion to the book but it was the beginning of a better life for me.
Now that I am getting better all the time, I am realizing that the time for the terrible pain in my life has finally passed. But I used it in the most productive way that I believe I possibly could - the book I have written in this time is not something that could have been written out of a happy, peaceful heart. It was written by who I used to be - a turbulent, dysfunctional soul. But the work that has come out of that time has the power to really change people's lives. I believe it could leave a real, lasting legacy for me and could really count towards my dream of having my life count for something. Not to say that there hasn't been casualties for me along the way in this journey - there certainly has been. But I realize now that my pain has had a far greater purpose than what I could have imagined.
If you are going through pain today - ask God to help you understand the pain and why you are facing it. Ask Him to help you turn it into productivity. You never know who you might reach and what kind of legacy the productive output from your pain may leave behind you.
Take care and Merry Christmas.
December 19, 2012
Godly frustration
Frustration is a subject I know well. As most of my life has been consumed with the healing and/or managing of mental illness which has sapped most of my strength and energy, I haven't been able to contribute fully with my life the way that I would have liked to. I've never been able to truly connect in relationships without being held back to at least some degree by my struggles, I've never been able to completely focus on the job I was doing at the time due to just trying to survive the constant internal anguish and I've never known what it's like to just be able to sit completely still and relax, something others take for granted.
Now that I have substantially reduced my medication thanks to advice from my doctor as well as the ton of deeply rooted spiritual and emotional issues I've dragged myself through over the past year, the frustration is now lessening and I am more able to enjoy life and connect with others in a way I never really could before. The real me is beginning to surface at last. However, the years of frustration have taken their toll and I am finding myself borderline explosive regarding my temperament at times due to the amount that has been held captive within my soul over the past 29 years and also due to the fact that I realize that even though I have learned a massive amount about how to survive, I don't really know how to just sit back and live. It's all a very new learning experience for me - learning to live for the first time.
I've never been able to truly make peace with everything that has happened and there are still some things that have happened to me over the past couple of years that I am still deeply frustrated about. I used to think that this frustration was evil and bad and that God was a God of peace and love and joy and wasn't bothered about anything and was basically some greenie passive hippy sitting up on His cloud going "just peace out, dude." That vision irritated me but I used to see it as true. However, that image of God has now been dismantled out of my thinking process and I've become aware for the first time of something I like to call "Godly frustration."
I have always had a strong sense of justice and wanting to see the right thing happen and the truth be uncovered despite how ugly and violent it can be, simply because I know that the truth sets you free and that living with buried truth is living in heaviness and living a lie. There is nothing that I hate more than seeing the truth buried and covered up where no one can find it while a nice pleasant whitewash is painted on the outside of it so that no one ever thinks to look within. The truth that is buried within that tomb doesn't die. It may be able to be blocked out of one's conscious thinking through years of denial and "shifting focus to other things" but it never really goes away - it just remains as a weight subconsciously pulling one's soul down, sapping their energy and keeping them restrained from becoming who they were created to be.
I find it infuriating and almost exasperating when I am standing up for something that I know is right especially when I feel I am doing as God has told me to do and I am either told to shut up by others or people tell me that I am wrong about something or someone, that I am being too harsh or that I just need to "peace out and let it go and chill out, man." There are times when God puts the truth about something on my heart and I try to communicate what God has told me and I am ignored. This drives me to the point of flipping out and losing the plot as the frustration becomes overwhelming. I used to think this was bad. But now I realize otherwise. This is the frustration that God feels.
God is all seeing and all knowing. Nothing is hidden from Him. God warns people and sometimes He uses His people to warn others - I know He has used me in this capacity. Yet His warnings are ignored and all the while the people that He warns walk blissfully into a slippery slope headed for terrible destruction and the truth that God is trying to get them to face is buried within themselves yet they refuse to heed it and just ignore it - continually blocking it out and walking blissfully into disaster. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be especially seeing as God has made it clear to the world that He will not interfere in free will. He gives people choices but that's not to say He is not deeply grieved and frustrated by the choices that others make.
I know understand that frustration directed towards the right thing is quite righteous. Jesus screamed at the Pharisees out of the incredible frustration He had with them - their double lives, the truth that they concealed within themselves, the fact that they were "like whitewashed tombs, attractive on the outside but internally are full of dead men's bones." But despite His screaming at them He knew that they would never change - hence his overwhelming frustration that lead to such a public spectacle. But it was still the right thing to do.
As I stated in my previous blog, I am learning to become a "Godly agent of chaos". Meaning - that I am learning that there are some things that cannot be kept silent about and truths that cannot be hidden and simply must be told and fought for, else the frustration will simply burn within me until I do say something. This is where the old image of the peaceful, hippy Jesus would come to mind saying "just peace out, man. Let it go." Sometimes that is still the case. But there are also times when truth needs to be told and to "just chill out" and not stand up and fight, not stand up and call out the repressed truths that people don't want to face and not give a voice to issues that will never be spoken of unless I speak of them can actually hold back what God wants to do.
There are some things that will never change - unless we, as God's hands and feet in the world, get off our lazy, peace loving backsides and actively do something about them. There are some issues that will never be spoken about and some stories that have the power to change the lives of others but will never be told unless we tell them. We need God - but He also needs us just as much. The still, small voice of God in the hearts of man is (unfortunately) easily ignored. The voice of a man - especially a voice driven by unresolved anger can be easily ignored. But the voice of a man spoken loudly and clearly into the darkness with God using that man to say what He wants to say can be incredibly powerful and liberating.
My message to you, dear reader, is this. Is there something frustrating you today? Burning on your heart? It could be that you aren't just to "let it go". It could be a Godly frustration, a frustration that the truth isn't coming out about something, that needs to be expressed. Don't fear your frustration. Pray about it and ask God for insight. It could be that your frustration is actually from God Himself and that if you act on it and do something about it by speaking it out and refusing to sit on it and remain frustrated for any longer, you could change someone's life forever. Or the world. There could be casualties. But to my mind there's no casualty worse than the right thing not being done because someone is afraid to do it and therefore the frustration eats them alive.
Take care out there.
Now that I have substantially reduced my medication thanks to advice from my doctor as well as the ton of deeply rooted spiritual and emotional issues I've dragged myself through over the past year, the frustration is now lessening and I am more able to enjoy life and connect with others in a way I never really could before. The real me is beginning to surface at last. However, the years of frustration have taken their toll and I am finding myself borderline explosive regarding my temperament at times due to the amount that has been held captive within my soul over the past 29 years and also due to the fact that I realize that even though I have learned a massive amount about how to survive, I don't really know how to just sit back and live. It's all a very new learning experience for me - learning to live for the first time.
I've never been able to truly make peace with everything that has happened and there are still some things that have happened to me over the past couple of years that I am still deeply frustrated about. I used to think that this frustration was evil and bad and that God was a God of peace and love and joy and wasn't bothered about anything and was basically some greenie passive hippy sitting up on His cloud going "just peace out, dude." That vision irritated me but I used to see it as true. However, that image of God has now been dismantled out of my thinking process and I've become aware for the first time of something I like to call "Godly frustration."
I have always had a strong sense of justice and wanting to see the right thing happen and the truth be uncovered despite how ugly and violent it can be, simply because I know that the truth sets you free and that living with buried truth is living in heaviness and living a lie. There is nothing that I hate more than seeing the truth buried and covered up where no one can find it while a nice pleasant whitewash is painted on the outside of it so that no one ever thinks to look within. The truth that is buried within that tomb doesn't die. It may be able to be blocked out of one's conscious thinking through years of denial and "shifting focus to other things" but it never really goes away - it just remains as a weight subconsciously pulling one's soul down, sapping their energy and keeping them restrained from becoming who they were created to be.
I find it infuriating and almost exasperating when I am standing up for something that I know is right especially when I feel I am doing as God has told me to do and I am either told to shut up by others or people tell me that I am wrong about something or someone, that I am being too harsh or that I just need to "peace out and let it go and chill out, man." There are times when God puts the truth about something on my heart and I try to communicate what God has told me and I am ignored. This drives me to the point of flipping out and losing the plot as the frustration becomes overwhelming. I used to think this was bad. But now I realize otherwise. This is the frustration that God feels.
God is all seeing and all knowing. Nothing is hidden from Him. God warns people and sometimes He uses His people to warn others - I know He has used me in this capacity. Yet His warnings are ignored and all the while the people that He warns walk blissfully into a slippery slope headed for terrible destruction and the truth that God is trying to get them to face is buried within themselves yet they refuse to heed it and just ignore it - continually blocking it out and walking blissfully into disaster. I can't imagine how frustrating that must be especially seeing as God has made it clear to the world that He will not interfere in free will. He gives people choices but that's not to say He is not deeply grieved and frustrated by the choices that others make.
I know understand that frustration directed towards the right thing is quite righteous. Jesus screamed at the Pharisees out of the incredible frustration He had with them - their double lives, the truth that they concealed within themselves, the fact that they were "like whitewashed tombs, attractive on the outside but internally are full of dead men's bones." But despite His screaming at them He knew that they would never change - hence his overwhelming frustration that lead to such a public spectacle. But it was still the right thing to do.
As I stated in my previous blog, I am learning to become a "Godly agent of chaos". Meaning - that I am learning that there are some things that cannot be kept silent about and truths that cannot be hidden and simply must be told and fought for, else the frustration will simply burn within me until I do say something. This is where the old image of the peaceful, hippy Jesus would come to mind saying "just peace out, man. Let it go." Sometimes that is still the case. But there are also times when truth needs to be told and to "just chill out" and not stand up and fight, not stand up and call out the repressed truths that people don't want to face and not give a voice to issues that will never be spoken of unless I speak of them can actually hold back what God wants to do.
There are some things that will never change - unless we, as God's hands and feet in the world, get off our lazy, peace loving backsides and actively do something about them. There are some issues that will never be spoken about and some stories that have the power to change the lives of others but will never be told unless we tell them. We need God - but He also needs us just as much. The still, small voice of God in the hearts of man is (unfortunately) easily ignored. The voice of a man - especially a voice driven by unresolved anger can be easily ignored. But the voice of a man spoken loudly and clearly into the darkness with God using that man to say what He wants to say can be incredibly powerful and liberating.
My message to you, dear reader, is this. Is there something frustrating you today? Burning on your heart? It could be that you aren't just to "let it go". It could be a Godly frustration, a frustration that the truth isn't coming out about something, that needs to be expressed. Don't fear your frustration. Pray about it and ask God for insight. It could be that your frustration is actually from God Himself and that if you act on it and do something about it by speaking it out and refusing to sit on it and remain frustrated for any longer, you could change someone's life forever. Or the world. There could be casualties. But to my mind there's no casualty worse than the right thing not being done because someone is afraid to do it and therefore the frustration eats them alive.
Take care out there.
October 15, 2012
Introduce a little anarchy
This may sound a bit bizarre to some, but it's something I've been thinking about a lot recently - and it's just how valuable and even necessary a bit of anarchy and chaos can be in our lives.
One of my favorite movies is The Dark Knight. I just think it's brilliant in every sense. Once again this may sound weird, but one of the characters in the movie I have come to respect and even somewhat admire, is the Joker. Of course he is meant to be a picture of absolute evil and is so insane he tells different stories all the time about the origin of his facial scars. Not to mention that he kills people for fun. I'm well aware of that. But I also think he has a very interesting psychological take on some issues.
One of the most powerful lines in the movie as far as I am concerned is when the Joker is talking to Harvey Dent in the hospital ward and he told him that all he sees around him are schemers, trying to control their little worlds and that all he does is show the schemers just how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. The stance he seems to have on the world is he sees what is on the surface and he doesn't believe it's the full picture, so he introduces chaos and anarchy to try to force people to show each other and themselves who they really are inside, under all of the masks. Obviously his methods of doing this are incredibly brutal and violent, and he has little to no care for anyone's life (not even his own) but I can see where he is coming from.
I think back on all of the experiences and all of the people I have connected with in my life and I can honestly say that the ones who left the biggest mark on my life, taught me the most and helped me to realize the full extent of who I really was - were more often than not, the really bad ones. When I first became a Christian, I would come across as the nicest guy who ever lived, always bowing down to everyone and never saying boo to a goose. This may have looked appealing to people but it was only ever a mask. It was never who I really was. The real me was buried deep within the mask - a dark, raging torrent of frustration, fear, anger and violence.
Throughout the early years of my Christian walk I always received lots of nice words about how much of a nice boy I was, etc etc. If only they knew the truth. God wanted to break through the masks and expose the real me so that I could change properly from the inside and live honestly rather than maintaining different masks all day long (which became incredibly exhausting). How did he do this? Through violent, turbulent and sometimes unrelenting chaos. Life did not get better after I became a Christian. It got ten times worse. I've endured stomach ulcers, months upon months of unemployment, abusive workplace environments and of course experiencing burnout last year. Throughout all of this unrelenting chaos, I've learned and grown more than I ever did when times were "good" and since going through burnout, I've learned so much more about who I really am. And I'm not the "nice guy" everyone - even me - used to think I was. I believe I am beginning to transform into an Agent of Chaos myself - but for the right reasons.
I've realized that in a lot of ways - Jesus was an agent of chaos Himself. Throwing tables around in the temple and verbally tearing strips off the religious leaders in public. He wanted to show them the truth and the deceit about what they were really doing, and He had the balls to be able to take the inevitable abuse that would come His way from those in power who don't like being confronted with something about themselves that they needed to change. He trusted and believed that He was doing the right thing to the extent that He was willing to risk taking abuse for doing it. I admire that immensely about Him and it's a side of God that few seem to speak about.
I've realized that there are times when there are pools of darkness in people's lives that quite frankly need to be stirred up. I've endured a fair bit of abuse recently from people and even had to cut some of them out of my life because I stood up for and said what I believed in, knowing full well it would create a storm of chaos in their lives which instead of facing internally and dealing with themselves, it was easier to throw it back at me. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone is tell them the truth - even if it hurts. Jesus did that as well. People have also come into my life and told me the truth about things I've been doing and it's hurt, but I've realized that they were right and I've appreciated it. I've had to make a stand on a few things that I know some people don't agree with. But I strongly believe I have done the right thing and I'm prepared to take the heat for that.
Of course, you need to be absolutely sure you are doing the right thing when it comes to this sort of thing. Jesus certainly didn't chew out everybody. He was wise with it. He had the strength to fight anyone He pleased but the wisdom to know when to do it and when not to. To go all out of control and just destroy everything and everyone would be what the Joker would do, which is obviously far too extreme and by no means right. I've had to make absolutely sure I was doing the right thing before I did anything and I also had to make sure my own house was clean to begin with. It's been quite a scary experience as I'm venturing out into unknown territory by speaking the truth into people's lives and fighting for what I believe in, and realizing that I can survive their retaliation and even fight back if I deem it necessary. It's still something I am getting used to. But I'm much more comfortable with it now than I've ever been before and I realize that sometimes the truth is going to hurt others but if God wants you to say something and you don't because you're afraid of hurting their feelings then you're only hurting yourself and holding yourself back.
Sometimes there is a need for anarchy. Sometimes God might call you to speak severely to someone even when the consequences of that could mean the end of a friendship because the truth will hurt them. But don't let the fear of chaos and consequences hold you back from doing what you firmly believe is the right thing. I realize people may well disagree with me on this post. And that's fine - I welcome your feedback.
Take care out there.
One of my favorite movies is The Dark Knight. I just think it's brilliant in every sense. Once again this may sound weird, but one of the characters in the movie I have come to respect and even somewhat admire, is the Joker. Of course he is meant to be a picture of absolute evil and is so insane he tells different stories all the time about the origin of his facial scars. Not to mention that he kills people for fun. I'm well aware of that. But I also think he has a very interesting psychological take on some issues.
One of the most powerful lines in the movie as far as I am concerned is when the Joker is talking to Harvey Dent in the hospital ward and he told him that all he sees around him are schemers, trying to control their little worlds and that all he does is show the schemers just how pathetic their attempts to control things really are. The stance he seems to have on the world is he sees what is on the surface and he doesn't believe it's the full picture, so he introduces chaos and anarchy to try to force people to show each other and themselves who they really are inside, under all of the masks. Obviously his methods of doing this are incredibly brutal and violent, and he has little to no care for anyone's life (not even his own) but I can see where he is coming from.
I think back on all of the experiences and all of the people I have connected with in my life and I can honestly say that the ones who left the biggest mark on my life, taught me the most and helped me to realize the full extent of who I really was - were more often than not, the really bad ones. When I first became a Christian, I would come across as the nicest guy who ever lived, always bowing down to everyone and never saying boo to a goose. This may have looked appealing to people but it was only ever a mask. It was never who I really was. The real me was buried deep within the mask - a dark, raging torrent of frustration, fear, anger and violence.
Throughout the early years of my Christian walk I always received lots of nice words about how much of a nice boy I was, etc etc. If only they knew the truth. God wanted to break through the masks and expose the real me so that I could change properly from the inside and live honestly rather than maintaining different masks all day long (which became incredibly exhausting). How did he do this? Through violent, turbulent and sometimes unrelenting chaos. Life did not get better after I became a Christian. It got ten times worse. I've endured stomach ulcers, months upon months of unemployment, abusive workplace environments and of course experiencing burnout last year. Throughout all of this unrelenting chaos, I've learned and grown more than I ever did when times were "good" and since going through burnout, I've learned so much more about who I really am. And I'm not the "nice guy" everyone - even me - used to think I was. I believe I am beginning to transform into an Agent of Chaos myself - but for the right reasons.
I've realized that in a lot of ways - Jesus was an agent of chaos Himself. Throwing tables around in the temple and verbally tearing strips off the religious leaders in public. He wanted to show them the truth and the deceit about what they were really doing, and He had the balls to be able to take the inevitable abuse that would come His way from those in power who don't like being confronted with something about themselves that they needed to change. He trusted and believed that He was doing the right thing to the extent that He was willing to risk taking abuse for doing it. I admire that immensely about Him and it's a side of God that few seem to speak about.
I've realized that there are times when there are pools of darkness in people's lives that quite frankly need to be stirred up. I've endured a fair bit of abuse recently from people and even had to cut some of them out of my life because I stood up for and said what I believed in, knowing full well it would create a storm of chaos in their lives which instead of facing internally and dealing with themselves, it was easier to throw it back at me. Sometimes the kindest thing you can do for someone is tell them the truth - even if it hurts. Jesus did that as well. People have also come into my life and told me the truth about things I've been doing and it's hurt, but I've realized that they were right and I've appreciated it. I've had to make a stand on a few things that I know some people don't agree with. But I strongly believe I have done the right thing and I'm prepared to take the heat for that.
Of course, you need to be absolutely sure you are doing the right thing when it comes to this sort of thing. Jesus certainly didn't chew out everybody. He was wise with it. He had the strength to fight anyone He pleased but the wisdom to know when to do it and when not to. To go all out of control and just destroy everything and everyone would be what the Joker would do, which is obviously far too extreme and by no means right. I've had to make absolutely sure I was doing the right thing before I did anything and I also had to make sure my own house was clean to begin with. It's been quite a scary experience as I'm venturing out into unknown territory by speaking the truth into people's lives and fighting for what I believe in, and realizing that I can survive their retaliation and even fight back if I deem it necessary. It's still something I am getting used to. But I'm much more comfortable with it now than I've ever been before and I realize that sometimes the truth is going to hurt others but if God wants you to say something and you don't because you're afraid of hurting their feelings then you're only hurting yourself and holding yourself back.
Sometimes there is a need for anarchy. Sometimes God might call you to speak severely to someone even when the consequences of that could mean the end of a friendship because the truth will hurt them. But don't let the fear of chaos and consequences hold you back from doing what you firmly believe is the right thing. I realize people may well disagree with me on this post. And that's fine - I welcome your feedback.
Take care out there.
October 9, 2012
Spotlight Book! "No Way Out But Through" by Graham Aitchison
Spotlight Book! "No Way Out But Through" by Graham Aitchison
Hi everyone,
My book has been spotlighted by the Indie Author's Anonymous blogsite - feel free to check it out :)
Cheers
Graham.
Hi everyone,
My book has been spotlighted by the Indie Author's Anonymous blogsite - feel free to check it out :)
Cheers
Graham.
