To step back in order to see the forest. (Sometimes things block our view of what matters)

I have decided to take a break from social media for a bit. The reason has more than one side to it. One side says this is to prove to myself (and others if it proves anything) that I can function without it. The other reason involves a need to focus on things beyond the keyboard. On things right in front of me day to day and to quell any thoughts that my priorities are not where they belong.
You see, to know me is to know I am a social creature. I like being liked. Some would say "You shouldn't care what people think a about you. Just be yourself and if that isn't good enough, then they aren't good enough.". Well, there is a lot of truth to that. Perhaps that is really what friends are. People who like you for you. Not for the witty things you say or for your thoughts on politics, history, or sports. But that is exactly where I am today, expressing myself and hoping others like what I say. What else can yo do on a site like Facebook?
About 15 years ago (give or take) I had a large group of friends. Friends I could reference back to my childhood. I'm talking 6, 7, 8 years old was when I met them, and at 35 I still had them. I bragged about it like I had something rare and valuable. I took it for granted they would be there forever or at least till my life was done here on earth. Then I lost a real close friend to an early death. His name was Francis (Fran) Orner and he was one of if not the closest friends I had. He had a heart attack walking home from the store while living in Maryland and to this day I haven't gotten over him being gone.
To exacerbate my perspective I began to lose other friends for various reasons as time went on. Just drifting apart. Moving. Differences in lifestyles. Time. Etcetera etcetera.

No matter the specific reason, I began to think on the true fragility of friendship and on how we take such ordinary and day to day relationships for granted. I mean I had friendships I thought would never die and perhaps they haven't but the ability to interact is gone. What I' saying is even though I would be there on the rare chance they should call, the bond we had is no longer there. In other words, I am still a friend although I know they are not.
So, I must get to the point after drifting off the road here. My point in all of that back there is I recognized friendship as a rare, cherished, and at times fleeting event in my life. Because of this I wanted to take no friendship for granted. Add to that I wanted to find real, sincere friendships, that weren't based on superficiality and fake smiles or hellos.
Somewhere in there social media came to be for me. I guess I could be more specific and say Face Book. At first it was a novelty. A place to say something and disappear. Nothing of note. Then I started to reconnect with individuals I thought I would never interact with again. I say "interact" and I know it sounds impersonal but that is what face book affords us. Interaction. No shaking of hands. No hugs. No shared smiles. Just interaction. I say this, you say that. Maybe you don't say that. Maybe you just "like" it. Maybe you do nothing. Kinda detached. But it is something to a person who is looking for something.
But there are those moments when a conversation actually takes place. A sharing of like minds or a debate of differing perspectives. That is what I enjoy the most from it. Those times and the times when we step out to support a "friend" who is going through a rough patch. It is here I find it invaluable because outside of my family and my stack of journals I have no social life to speak of. I am a go to work, come home, get ready for tomorrow, and do it again kinda guy.  I am not seeking empathy here but instead I am merely giving you some insight into where I currently am. That is not tosay I will remain this way but only to say it is where I am now and recently. My heart is on my sleeve so to speak. My life is mine yes but I share it as a means of helping myself understand me better. Understand? No? That's ok. I rarely do either.
When I observe the world around me and in particular those people who come from similar backgrounds and life experiences, I notice my reaction and perspective is a bit unusual relatively speaking. I do things others find odd or different from how they would have responded to a given situation. To me, that is just who I am. Right or wrong. Maybe right or wrong has nothing to do with it. I am me. That's it. I find forgiveness where another finds revenge. I find a chance to transcend when some may see a chance to give up. I see a time to rethink things when another would see a chance to move on. I have flaws too. I can say too much as I probably have here or say the wrong thing that gives others the wrong idea about what I'm trying to say. I can sometimes get caught up in what I am experiencing to the point I neglect others. I can be pushy in my opinion and needy in my actions. I am not ignorant to what my shortcomings are and I wish I were perfect but that is not going to happen. We are all works in progress. Are we not?
Here is the conclusion. I have grown to depend on this site (Facebook) to the detriment of those in my life. I use it for many reasons and among them is a means to get support from those I call friend. There are many things in my life that serve to bring me down and the connection I feel from friends on here lifts my spirits. Whether it is someone liking my picture or my post or my sharing an opinion or a perspective or a video, those let me know people out there took time to say "I notice and appreciate you." I feed off of that.
Today, I have to step back from all of that to focus on what is right in front of me. What is going on in my day to day. I am sure I am not saying something foreign to anyone on here. I'm sure we have all thought on this if not for ourselves then for another we know. Perhaps that one is ME. I know I have been on here like the welcome wagon. Always there to interject with a smart remark or a witty comment. Always fishing for compliments or a reply. Don't think I don't notice all of this in myself because I do. I know my frequency on here is near the extreme and me being idle from work makes it more so. But I like debate. I like expression. I like to write. I like to share. If there was a way to make money from doing just those things i would be rich. Instead I am suffering at home and needing to refocus.
I have no idea how long I will be away. It could be long, it could be short. A month. A week. Tomorrow. Who knows? I just know I have to show an effort on my part to slow it down a piece. I don't want to lose any friends. Especially those who I share with often. I value each and every one of you. This is when I need your support for real.
I'll be back. I want to be back. Even though many call this fake, I know each and every one of you is real and I think our friendship is too. I do this "hiatus" with a lot of reluctance and I feel as if I am cutting myself off from a big part of my support structure at a time I probably need it more than usual. But this was requested of me. Whether this is too little too late I have no clue but it is an effort I need to make. Remember, even though I may not have been that big of a deal to you, you are quite a big deal to me. If that sounds pathetic to you then so be it. I am who I am. Odd? Yes. Unusual? Sure. Shy? Not really. Real? I hope so. At least that is how I want to be seen.
Take care. I'll try to.

 

Palm Sunday and It's purpose for the faithful Christian

Luke 9:51–56
Luke describes the arrival of Jesus in Jerusalem at the beginning of that last week of his earthly life:

As he was drawing near, at the descent of the Mount of Olives, the whole multitude of the disciples began to rejoice and praise God with a loud voice for all the mighty works that they had seen, saying, "Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord! Peace in heaven and glory in the highest! (Luke 19:37, 38)

Palm Sunday: Today and To Come

There is no doubt what was in the disciples' minds. This was the fulfillment of Zechariah's prophecy given centuries earlier:

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion! Shout aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem! Lo, your king comes to you; triumphant and victorious is he, humble and riding on an ass, on a colt, the foal of an ass. I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim and the war horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off, and he shall command peace to the nations; his dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the River to the ends of the earth. (Zechariah 9:9, 10)

The long-awaited Messiah had come, the king of Israel, and not just of Israel but of all the earth. Jerusalem would be his capital city. From here he would rule the world in peace and righteousness. What a day this was! How their hearts must have pounded in their chests! And must not their hands have been sweaty like warriors in readiness just before the bugle sounds the battle! How would he do it? Would he whip up the enthusiastic crowds and storm the Roman praetorium—a people's revolution? Or would he call down fire from heaven to consume the enemies of God? Would any of his followers be lost in the struggle? The tension of the moment must have been tremendous!
The Pharisees had a double reason for wanting this kind of welcome silenced. On the one hand, this Jesus was a threat to their authority, and they envied his popularity (Mark 15:10). On the other hand, they feared a Roman backlash to all this seditious talk of another king (John 11:48). Therefore they say to Jesus, "'Teacher, rebuke your disciples.' But he answered, 'I tell you, if these were silent, the very stones would cry out!"' (Luke 19:39, 40). No, he will not rebuke them for this. Not now. The hour has come. The authority of the Pharisees is done for. If the Romans come, they come. He will not silence the truth any longer. To be sure the disciples' understanding of Jesus' kingship at this point is flawed. But hastening events will correct that soon enough. In essence they are correct. Jesus is the king of Israel, and the kingdom he is inaugurating will bring peace to all the nations and spread from sea to sea. The book of Revelation pictures the final fulfillment of Palm Sunday in the age to come like this:

I looked and behold, a great multitude which no man could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb!" (Revelation 7:9, 10)

The entry into Jerusalem with waving palms (John 12:13) was a short-lived preview of the eternal Palm Sunday to come. It needed to be said. If the disciples hadn't said it, the rocks would have.
I like to think of all our worship in this age as rehearsal for the age to come. One day we, who by God's grace have been faithful to the Lord, are going to stand with innumerable millions of believers from Bangladesh, Poland, Egypt, Australia, Iceland, Cameroon, Ecuador, Burma, Borneo, Japan, and thousands of tribes and peoples and languages purified by Christ, with palms of praise in our hand. And when we raise them in salute to Christ, he will see an almost endless field of green, shimmering with life and pulsating with praise. And then like the sound of a thousand Russian choruses, we will sing our song of salvation, while the mighty Christ, with heartfelt love, looks out over those whom he bought with his own blood.
Had Jesus taken his throne on that first day of palms, none of us would ever be robed in white or waving palms of praise in the age to come. There had to be the cross, and that is what the disciples had not yet understood. Back in Luke 9, as Jesus prepared to set out for Jerusalem from Galilee, he tried to explain this to his disciples. In verse 22 he said, "The Son of Man must suffer many things, and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised." And in verse 44 he told them, "Let these words sink into your ears; for the Son of Man is to be delivered into the hands of men." But verse 45 tells us, "They did not understand this saying, and it was concealed from them that they should not perceive it; and they were afraid to ask him about this saying." Therefore, their understanding of Jesus' last journey to Jerusalem was flawed. They saw him as a king moving in to take control. And he was. But they could not grasp that the victory Jesus would win in Jerusalem over sin and Satan and death and all the enemies of righteousness and joy—that this victory would be won through his own horrible suffering and death; and that the kingdom which they thought would be established immediately (Luke 19:11) would, in fact, be thousands of years in coming. And their misunderstanding of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem results in a misunderstanding of the meaning of discipleship. This is why this is important for us to see, lest we make the same mistake.

Jesus' Resolution to Die

In Luke 9:51–56 we learn how not to understand Palm Sunday. Let's look at it together. "When the days drew near for him to be received up, he set his face to go to Jerusalem." To set his face towards Jerusalem meant something very different for Jesus than it did for the disciples. You can see the visions of greatness that danced in their heads in verse 46: "An argument arose among them as to which of them was the greatest." Jerusalem and glory were just around the corner. O what it would mean when Jesus took the throne! But Jesus had another vision in his head. One wonders how he carried it all alone and so long. Here's what Jerusalem meant for Jesus: "I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the day following; for it cannot be that a prophet should perish away from Jerusalem"(Luke 13:33). Jerusalem meant one thing for Jesus: certain death. Nor was he under any illusions of a quick and heroic death. He predicted in Luke 18:31f., "Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written of the Son of man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered to the Gentiles, and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon; they will scourge him and kill him." When Jesus set his face to go to Jerusalem, he set his face to die.
Remember, when you think of Jesus' resolution to die, that he had a nature like ours. He shrunk back from pain like we do. He would have enjoyed marriage and children and grandchildren and a long life and esteem in the community. He had a mother and brothers and sisters. He had special places in the mountains. To turn his back on all this and set his face towards vicious whipping and beating and spitting and mocking and crucifixion was not easy. It was hard. O how we need to use our imagination to put ourselves back into his place and feel what he felt. I don't know of any other way for us to begin to know how much he loved us. "Greater love has no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends" (John 15:13).
If we were to look at Jesus' death merely as a result of a betrayer's deceit and the Sanhedrin's envy and Pilate's spinelessness and the soldiers' nails and spear, it might seem very involuntary. And the benefit of salvation that comes to us who believe from this death might be viewed as God's way of making a virtue out of a necessity. But once you read Luke 9:51 all such thoughts vanish. Jesus was not accidentally entangled in a web of injustice. The saving benefits of his death for sinners were not an afterthought. God planned it all out of infinite love to sinners like us and appointed a time. Jesus, who was the very embodiment of his Father's love for sinners, saw that the time had come and set his face to fulfill his mission: to die in Jerusalem for our sake. "No one takes my life from me (he said), but I lay it down of my own accord" (John 10:18).

Jesus' Journey Is Our Journey

So Jesus sets out for Jerusalem, and it says in the text that "he sent messengers ahead of him, who went and entered a village of the Samaritans to make ready for him; but the people would not receive him because his face was set toward Jerusalem." It doesn't really matter whether this rejection is just because Jesus and his companions are Jews and Samaritans hate Jews, or whether the rejection is a more personal rejection of Jesus as the Messiah on his way to reign in Jerusalem. What matters for the story is simply that Jesus is already being rejected, and then the focus shifts to the disciples' response, specifically the response of James and John.
James and John ask Jesus, "Lord, do you want us to bid fire to come down from heaven and consume them?" (verse 54). Jesus had already named these brothers "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17). Here we get a glimpse of why. I take this passage very personally because my father named me after one of these sons of thunder. And I think I probably would have said what John did here: "Jesus, we are on the way to victory. Nothing can stop us now. Let the fire fall! Let the judgment begin! O, how Jerusalem will tremble when they see us coming!" Jesus turns, the text says, and rebuked them (verse 55). And they simply went to another town.
Now what does this mean? It means, first of all, that a mistaken view of Jesus' journey to Jerusalem can lead to a mistaken view of discipleship. If Jesus had come to execute judgment and take up an earthly rule, then it would make sense for the sons of thunder to begin the judgment when the final siege of the Holy City starts. But if Jesus had come not to judge but to save, then a radically different form of discipleship is in order. Here is a question put to every believer by this text: does discipleship mean deploying God's missiles against the enemy in righteous indignation? Or does discipleship mean following him on the Calvary road which leads to suffering and death? The answer of the whole New Testament is this: the surprise about Jesus the Messiah is that he came to live a life of sacrificial, dying service before he comes a second time to reign in glory. And the surprise about discipleship is that it demands a life of sacrificial, dying service before we can reign with Christ in glory.
What James and John had to learn—what we all must learn—is that Jesus' journey to Jerusalem is our journey, and if he set his face to go there and die, we must set our face to die with him. One might be tempted to reason in just the opposite way: that since Jesus suffered so much and died in our place, therefore, we are free to go straight to the head of the class, as it were, and skip all the exams. He suffered so we could have comfort. He died so we could live. He bore abuse so we could be esteemed. He gave up the treasures of heaven so we could lay up treasures on earth. He brought the kingdom and paid for our entrance and now we live in it with all its earthly privileges.
But all this is not biblical reasoning. It goes against the plain teaching in this very context. Luke 9:23, 24 reads: "If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake, he will save it." When Jesus set his face to walk the Calvary road, he was not merely taking our place; he was setting our pattern. He is substitute and pacesetter. If we seek to secure our life through returning evil for evil or surrounding ourselves with luxury in the face of human need, we will lose our life. We can save our life only if we follow Christ on the Calvary road. Jesus died to save us from the power and punishment of sin, not from the suffering and sacrifices of simplicity for love's sake.

Notice verses 57 and 58 (this is Jesus' way of correcting James' and John's misconception about the glories of discipleship): "As they were going along the road, a man said to him, 'I will follow you wherever you go.' And Jesus said to him, 'Foxes have holes, and the birds of the air have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head."' Why does Jesus tell a would-be disciple that he has no place to lay his head? The answer is simple enough for a child to see: because he expects disciples to be like him, and he wants them to know it is costly; the Calvary road is not the road of material prosperity. Now that doesn't mean disciples have to sleep standing up, but it does have something to say about how many places you've invested in to lay your head; and how much comfort and luxury you seek to surround yourself with.

Obama's World View: Total incompetence or astute agenda of destruction?

In the Middle East, our President arrives among fanfare, protest, and anticipation. The anticipation by the astute observer was reduced to a clear understanding that this region of the world is not one made for the cult of personality made in America.


It has been a given that those who lead in the Middle East must be of a special stock. One that requires a ruthless, calculating, and no nonsense approach. One that has no Oscar cameo appearances, celebrity golf excursions, mind games with the press, or casual dismissal of the problems a country may face. We found out just what role Saddam Hussein played in the entire region when without an adequate use of fore thought, we removed him from power. The vacuum could not be filled by some Magna Carta, democratic, for the people, style Western European vision our leaders had hoped would come to be. Instead it was infiltrated by theocratic and radical elements seeking to use terror, intimidation, and a new found motivation to install a new power structure. This would not be earned by promising entitlements to low income individuals, or the promise of gay marriage, or free health care on the backs of the wealthy. It would come about through attrition, horror, and the instability that random chaos would create. As Saddam became a historical foot note, the Muslim brotherhood and it's ilk poured across the Middle East like a toxic, slow rolling, stream of thick oil, As the people living through this sudden American caused flood of death and destruction did their best to survive day to day, American politicians and media ignorantly greeted it as a movement of revolutionary proportions much like the one that granted us all the liberty we take so much for granted. Obama, while standing in air conditioned corridors and sun bathed country clubs, would be quoted and seen saying Egypt's leader Mubarak must step down. Mubarak, another necessary dictator in a land that was a powder keg. Under Mubarak, the Israeli, Egypt borders remained conflict free, and in turn Egypt benefited from American acceptance and assistance. Now, as radicals with unknown agendas swept the square and violence as well as rape proliferated what our President described by quoting Martin Luther King as he demonstrated his blatant western ignorance, ""'There's something in the soul that cries out for freedom.'" He added, "Those were the cries that came from Tahrir Square and the entire world has taken note.". Our President even went so far as to say, "We should raise our children to be like Egyptian youth.”, in a way only he could. Such a comment in the United States would be looked at in awe at his superb orator skills by those who seemingly worship his every move. But in Egypt's Tahrir Square, perhaps those cries he spoke of were those of the victims within the mob who realized life was about to get much more difficult.

In Egypt, the Muslim brotherhood quickly took power and with Mohamed Morsi assuming almost dictatorial power until the people forced him to back off just yet. Morsi did with his people but did not hesitate to proclaim the illegitimacy of Israel , punctuated with his statement that Jews were descendants of apes and asked Egyptians to "nurse our children and our grandchildren on hatred.". 
Meanwhile, the Obama administration still showed it's lack of understanding that all actions, especially those in this tinder box part of the world, have dire consequences, and moved to supply Egypt with 200 M1 Abrams Tanks and F 16 fighters. This justified by the state department as they said, "Egypt receives more than $1 billion a year in development andmilitary aid from the US as part of a package linked to its historic1979 peace deal with Israel. The peace accord is a cornerstone of US Mideast policy." 
Perhaps with Mubarak. Perhaps with Sadat. But today is a totally different climate and Obama's foreign policy ignorance is costing the world dearly.

So far, I have yet to mention Libya, as it too was swept up in the vacuum created by Saddam's absence from the world scene and Obama was quick to follow by once again demanding Qaddafi step down to respect the wishes of the Libyan people. 
Step down? To be replaced by what? In terms of Qaddafi, the United States had a known quantity that was easy to manage and control as well as contain. Now, our President urged another vacuum be created by the toppling of yet another regional dictator who controlled in the way of the Middle East with fear and intimidation. 
Ironically, it was the revolution in Iran that our President said nothing. Iran, the nation that now has tentacles spread through out every nation it neighbors and can affect. The nation that consistently has sought Israels disolvement through funding Hamas, Al Qeada, the Muslim Brotherhood, and others as a means of destroying the nation by proxy. 
While in Israel, Obama flippantly compared the disagreements between Israel and its neighbors to those America has with Canada. At first, anyone with any modicum of knowledge and comprehension would have thought this was some ill advised joke by our President. But no, Obama was serious and used the comparison to show our two nations could get along, so why can't Israel get along with their neighbors almost admonishing the Jewish State.
Today, the nations surrounding Israel demand the Jews leave the region and restore it to who they feel belong there. Is it too much to point out to Obama that Judaism and Christianity, two faiths that are being literally killed off by Muslim radicalism, can find their origins right there in the Middle East? To emphasize my point even further I will note that both Christianity and Judaism were there WELL before Islam was even thought of. 
In his speech in Israel, Obama used his daughters once again as he has on so many occasions prior, to gain an emotional foothold when he brought to light the flawed history of our nation by saying it wasn't long ago that slavery and discrimination prevented his children from having the life they have now. All of this without one mention of the much, much longer and significant enslavement of the Jews to this nation Egypt he claimed to be so virtuous in it's own revolution. A practice of slavery dating back thousands of years yet not recognized for the suffering it brought upon the very nation Obama spoke in.

The points could be endlessly made and the arguments by the Obama apologists will continue despite the facts. If he is not completely inept and incompetent then he is a man with a very blatant agenda. I will leave both up to the reader to discern. For me, I see this man and his cronies as being quite possibly the very worst thing that has ever happened to this nation in its brief history and also most recently to the entire world due to his apathy and contempt for all things outside his own egotistical orbit. 
We can only hope to find the way to contain him and the damage he seeks to cause until his final ouster 3 years from now.

A Friend [written originally 3/8/98]

Watch yourself
My longtime friend
There are those outside
Who seek your end

I'm not one
and still more are found
You can call to us
without a sound

We see your troubles
We know your style
After all, we've known you
All this while

Tough times yes
We know of days
When we all feel nothing
can change our ways

But maybe we
are not the one
Who've fallen far
Now under the gun

Once inside
and now on the out
Old friends talk loud
They scream and they shout

This I've heard!!!
And that I've said!!!
My thoughts are so hectic!!!
I can't go to bed!!!!

I'll talk of you
While praising me.

But ball of confusion,
is all they see.

Once close and now questions
of how can this be?
A friend I looked up to
can no longer see.

He's changed they said
You best watch your back
But really compassion
Is all that we lack

Friends forever
Is how it should be
Destroying all egos
and games cease to be

So let's band together
and find honest ways
Because a friend from our past
should be a friend all our days

ANOTHER POEM FOUND IN "THE MOVE" OVER 15 YEARS OLD

What? A misunderstanding life.

Can I somehow
Correctly express
The way that I feel
No more or no less

Specific in feeling
Clear in my word
Making what I mean
Just that what you heard

Not leaving the reader
Nonplussed or subtracted
Thinking my last post
Must be retracted

I have always thought
I was seldom understood
But if I spoke any different
It would be to me no good

Because then I change my flow
The way I share my thought
Then the thing you get
Is not what I have taught

It's something not real
Not who I really am
It is very disingenuous
The epitome' of scam

So I'll speak just how it comes
The way my brain says talk
Then at least you know I'm honest
and I truly walk the walk

The quality of the ride

There are times in life
When we feel alone
With no support
From others shown

Nobody around
Feels you can
Do anything right
Or be a man

It weighs real hard
On how you feel
And you see yourself
In a way unreal

It's this twisted view
We have of our ways
That affect the manner
We live our days

We need at times
To separate our mind
From all this talk
That is so unkind

It's when we do
And we get a chance
To see ourselves
With a careful glance

We truly find
That what is real
Is who we are
And how we feel

The attitudes
We show each day
Tells much of ourselves
And just where we lay

In this walk called life
This walk all our own
We set the scene
We set the tone

It's how we react
In our life that decides
How rough or smooth
Will be our rides.

Character Assassination (revised 2013)

It's a character assassination
With no body guard in sight
Alone we try to recover
From this act that wasn't right

If they can't have you, no one will
The assassins, once your friends
Your path looked different so they sought
A means to achieve their ends

They spoke of you to those who listened
As untrustworthy and a liar
The damage done, they could not see
And they threw you in the mire

Why is it so in days like these
We lose our friends to blindness?
When all we ever gave the other
Were happy times and kindness?

Will we ever find a way,
To somehow make amends?
Because assassins who kill you now,
Were yesterday your friends.

Mark H Sumner

Freedom of speech, young and old

The first amendment
Made for speech
Is being affected
By over reach

When every word
Can scare or alarm
Then what can be said
With out causing harm

You must pick the crowd
The ones who will hear
Because the nervous get jumpy
And have a keen ear

They want to protect
While forgetting we're free
To say our own mind
So others can see

When we are young we're reckless
We don't parse every word
So what's on our mind
Is just what you heard

As we grow we know tact
And choose what we say
It's found over time
That this is the best way

But let a child learn
As he speaks we can teach
Before we go overboard
And they become out of reach

Forgiving and it's power on who we are

Forgiveness and the Cathartic Release

Mat 6:14-15 (NIV) "For if you forgive men when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But, if you do not forgive men their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins."

And forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us.

You will not be punished for your anger, you will be punished BY your anger.

Colossians 3:13

Bear with each other and forgive whatever grievances you may have against one another. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (NIV)

Generally, forgiveness is a decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. The act that hurt or offended you might always remain a part of your life, but forgiveness can lessen its grip on you and help you focus on other, positive parts of your life. Forgiveness can even lead to feelings of understanding, empathy and compassion for the one who hurt you.

 

Forgiveness doesn't mean that you deny the other person's responsibility for hurting you, and it doesn't minimize or justify the wrong. You can forgive the person without excusing the act. Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you go on with life.

Forgiveness is a selfish thing. It involves a release. A letting go. Genuine forgiveness runs deep.  It is not a thin surface patch on a relationship, but an inner change of heart toward the offender.  Too often we think we have extended forgiveness when we have only covered  over our resentment.

Connie Domino, a Mental Health practitioner and author of the book states, “For decades in my mental health practice I have observed how unforgiving (and unapologetic) clients are glued in one spot emotionally — unable to fully develop and appreciate their lives. Whether the subjects of their resentment and anger are abusive parents, cheating spouses, disloyal friends, or their pain is based on a simple type of relationship breach, wounded and unforgiving individuals are capable and deserve to reach forgiveness — for their own sakes.”

When we forgive, we change ourselves, creating a ripple effect around us; but we do not control the direction of the ripple. The behavior of the other(s) toward us may improve or become worse. This response then provides us with concrete experiences on which to base our continued (or discontinued) relationship with the other.

Forgiveness is a reflection of our condition. The state of our mind and how we perceive the world around us. We find through experience that we can change our circumstances by changing the way we think and feel, what we believe, what we say to ourselves, and the actions we take.

Christianity teaches us that forgiveness originates with God. The Lord’s Prayer puts out a requirement for receiving forgiveness from God. “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us.” It is a prerequisite to receiving forgiveness.

In forgiving others from the Christian perspective, we learn to forgive ourselves.

There are misconceptions regarding the act of forgiveness. Some feel that forgiving an individual means we are condoning that transgression done before us. They believe that forgiveness is something you do for other people as if it is a selfless act.

Forgiving does not mean you agree with or accept how you were treated. Forgiveness is not to be confused with pardon. People should still be held responsible for their own behavior. When you forgive, you are releasing yourself from that person and their actions.

When you release old hurts and resentments, immediately new, fresh positive energy is made available to you through the Holy Spirit. You gain a sense of peace with yourself.

It is not a merely therapeutic matter, as though this were just about you.  Rather, when the requisite conditions are met, forgiveness is what a good person would seek because it expresses fundamental moral ideals.  These include ideals of spiritual growth and renewal; truth telling; mutual respectful address; responsibility and respect; reconciliation and peace.

 

Forgiveness is the miracle of a new beginning. It is to start where we are, not where we wish we were, or the other person was. It is to hold out a hand; to want to renew a friendship; to want a new relationship with husband, father, daughter, friend, or indeed enemy. It may not take away the hurt. It does not deny the past injury. It does not ignore the possibility and need for repentance and a change in the relationship. It means being willing to take the initiative in dealing with any barriers that I may be raising towards a restored relationship. It means that I am willing to have a relationship with the other party that is based on Christian love and not on what has happened in the past, if the response of the other person makes that possible.

 

Forgiving is a decision that allows you to continue being that light of positivity for God to show among those who may or may not live a life of the spirit. Those who walk according to societies moral compass and the criteria that goes with guiding behavior will tell you “Forgive but not forget”. Well, in the world of the flesh, that is the equivalent of allowing another individual, Precisely that individual who needs to be forgiven, a spot within your very heart and soul where they can fester rent free. Meanwhile, this individual goes about their day totally unaware and perhaps uncaring about this cancer they have placed with in you.

It is as clearly stated in the Lord’s prayer what must be done. We must forgive and by forgiving and letting go of the power we have given another over our very mental welfare, we are able to not only demonstrate God’s love on Earth but also the liberation the act provides. We cannot venture back and change the past. We can only work on the now. This in turn gives great influence to our very future.

Forgiveness was a last act of Christ upon his very murderers that allowed a world in sin to continue in the hope that it too could find a way to forgive not only others but itself.

“Forgive them father, for they know not what they do.”

What we do is act in the flesh all too many times and perpetrate revenge, payback, and the very opposite of God’s love. When we enter into a life with the spirit we are compelled to forgive.

It is said in the book of Roman’s that Vengence is mine saith the Lord. That means it is not yours. Paul tells us to help our enemy and that in turn will heap burning coals upon their head.

This is the Lord at work in the heart of a transgressor and a person you must learn to forgive. That is our duty as Christians. It is not a choice but actually a reflection of where we actually are in our walk with God. Let the world criticize because you are not of this world. You are merely a spirit. An individualized expression of God on earth and that expression lives in love and yes the ability to forgive.