Tuesday; July 25

I didn’t tend to rebel as a teenager – even though I was a preacher’s kid – but, there were still times when I needed some “direction”.   Throughout adolescence I was given guidance by my parents – sometimes by way of gentle reminders and other times their message was a lot more direct and to the point.  As I look back on those days I recall that I did not always appreciate their insight, yet it wasn’t necessarily because they gave me bad advice.  More often than not, when I didn’t like what my parents were saying it wasn’t because they made bad decisions, it was just because I didn’t like the answers.
You might think that the older I get the more I have come to appreciate answers I don’t like, but I am not sure that is necessarily true.  We all find ourselves in positions where we don’t get the answers we want and we have to make a decision what we are going to do with the input we receive.  When we find ourselves standing at the crossroads of reacting to the news we don’t appreciate we need to ask the question:  Have we been given bad advice or do we just not like the answer?   If the person is in a position of authority and the advice given is in error we may have to choose an appropriate response.  Yet, if we just don’t like what the other person has to say, that is a completely different issue.  In fact, we may just have to learn to live with solid decisions that don’t go our way.
Let’s recall the words of the wise king, “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, but a wise man is he who listens to counsel.” (Proverbs 12:15)  Wisdom may come in a way (and at a time) that we like it the least but need it the most.
Think About It!

Popular posts from this blog

Thursday; May 3

I have a fish tank that allows my three Bettas (Larry, Darrell and Darrell) to live in the same structure, but remain hidden from each other – well sort of.   When I go to feed the fish, I believe that one of the Darrell’s can sort of see that the other Darrell is getting fed and he will linger over on that side of the tank even after I put his food in his tank.   I have to tap on the side of the tank where his food is floating to help him refocus and eat.   I get the impression that he is so interested in what is going on in the other Darrell’s tank that he can’t enjoy his own food. I have been told that the brain of a fish is pretty small – which explains their inability to process “blessings”, but are we guilty of the same malady as Darrell?   Are we so worried (or consumed) by what happens to the people around us that we fail to realize what is going on with us?   Are we envious of the blessings that others are receiving and end up missing out on what we have been given?   Are w
Read more

Thursday; February 14

         While most of us are familiar with today being Valentine’s Day, there are some who actually refer to February 14 th as “St. Valentine’s Day”.  This title is often affixed to a criminally historic event known as “The St. Valentine’s Day Massacre” on February 14, 1929 in Chicago, but that is another story for another time.  Not knowing much about the history of “Saint Valentine” I did a little research and found out he was a Roman religious leader who was martyred in 269 AD.  According to my limited research Valentine was killed because of his encouragement of Roman men (especially soldiers) to marry which was in violation of Claudias’ edict that prohibited marriage to keep their minds singularly focused on their task of defending the Empire.  Somehow, from this beginning – and possibly embellished by Chaucer – St. Valentine became intertwined with the concept of romantic love.           I am not really sure how February 14 th became connected with love, but inspired by thi
Read more

Wednesday; December 6

What does it mean to be a leader? I subscribe to the belief that a leader is someone who seeks the best for others and works with them to achieve their potential. There are others; however, who define leadership as the ability to have a vision and the tenacity to get their own way. Leaders who are this way are often portrayed as having developed the maturity to manipulate people to do things their way. However, is the ability to drive people in our direction mature or is it childish? The Christians of the 1st Century came from a lot of different backgrounds and had to work hard to work together. As the Apostle Paul challenged Christians in the city of Ephesus he challenged them to accept individual differences, “… until we all attain to the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to a mature man, to the measure of the stature which belongs to the fullness of Christ. “ (Ephesians 4:13). Bossiness was not to be viewed as a sign of maturity, a willingness to wo
Read more