Well, that's how it started out anyway. Then I shared it with a couple people first, and they shared similar thoughts. It felt good to write it all out, but it was my typical scorched earth approach, which is not how I want to live my life. Works great in a book, but not so great in real life.
I started listening to Glenn Beck when I discovered he was saying a lot of the things I was thinking. He was just a little slower about it. Case in point, the Patriot Act. While so many praised it initially, I was quoting Benjamin Franklin, "They who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Peter Scobell, a former Navy SEAL, wrote this compelling piece:
http://www.glennbeck.com/2012/11/01/oped-benghazi-what-really-matters/?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2012-11-01_175915&utm_content=39183288&utm_term=_175915_175929
He required I look into my own soul and ask some difficult questions of myself.
What sort of person am I?
Would I run toward certain trouble and possible death to help someone else? Or would I run away or do nothing at all?
I've endeavored to not look away from trouble but see if there was something I could do to help. Often, I find I'm completely unqualified and pose more hinderance than help. In other words, I learn just how much I don't know about a lot of things.
For example, I pass a car on the side of the road. Nope. I don't stop to help. I know nothing about cars. Okay, I know a few things. Stick the key in the little slot and turn. If the engine doesn't start, repeat. If the engine still doesn't start, call an expert. I've been rescued on more than one occasion when I had a flat tire. God bless men who ask to help. I know how it's done, but I've yet to be able to change a tire without the extra muscle. I am able to put air in my tires and gas in my car, without help, though I like not having the smell of gasoline or dirt from the tires on my hands. I'm funny that way.
I'm endeavoring to choose liberty over dependency in my life.
Having painted myself in a very dark light, here's the other side of the coin: When anyone calls and asks me about what I do for a living because they're interested in pursuing it, I answer questions until they have no more questions to ask. If I'm able to help, I do. However, I'm still not sure I would actually put my life in peril. It has never been required of me.
I do understand being required to do what others refuse to do and learning to find a healthy balance between serving and enabling. All my life, I always felt like I wasn't enough. I didn't do enough, give enough, share enough, and on and on. Scripture was often used as a whip to push me to give more, no matter the cost to me.
This is what I've learned in the last few years:
Jesus taught to turn the other cheek, not to be a punching bag. Jesus taught that if someone takes your cloak, then give him your coat also, not give him every stitch of clothing you own. Jesus taught if someone compels you to walk a mile with them, walk two, but he does not teach you to carry the other person when they're perfectly capable of walking on their own.
I'm not walking so well on my own, but I'm still trying. I haven't given up. No matter how many times I fall on my face -- and there have been plenty -- I always pick myself up and struggle on, even if it means crawling. There's an indescribable sense of accomplishment when I manage to get back up every time, and it's amazing when I'm able to stand. It never lasts very long, but I keep working, keep trying, keep struggling, because I want that feeling again, that sense of strength and self-confidence that only comes with doing it myself. I want that feeling again so much. It isn't something anyone can give you. It's earned.
I suppose part of the reason I admire the SEALs so much is because these are men with a deep down in their soul knowledge of who they are and what they represent. They don't question or waffle. They see what needs to be done and do it. No whining. No excuses. No praise wanted.
I'm weak. I like the occasional "well done." However, I'm learning it means more from some people than from others.
I think liberty is something a person earns. It can't be given, not really.
Parents can't give their baby the skill to walk. The baby must work and earn the skill. And how they crow when they achieve each small success. When in our lives did little wins stop mattering?
I suppose I'm learning to walk. I've fallen down, a lot. I wonder if I'll ever master the skill. Sometimes I'm too tired to try anymore, so I rest a bit and then try again.
"Give me liberty or give me death." ~ Patrick Henry
Isn't that the real message? Without liberty, there is no life worth living.
I started listening to Glenn Beck when I discovered he was saying a lot of the things I was thinking. He was just a little slower about it. Case in point, the Patriot Act. While so many praised it initially, I was quoting Benjamin Franklin, "They who would give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
Peter Scobell, a former Navy SEAL, wrote this compelling piece:
http://www.glennbeck.com/2012/11/01/oped-benghazi-what-really-matters/?utm_source=Daily&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=2012-11-01_175915&utm_content=39183288&utm_term=_175915_175929
He required I look into my own soul and ask some difficult questions of myself.
What sort of person am I?
Would I run toward certain trouble and possible death to help someone else? Or would I run away or do nothing at all?
I've endeavored to not look away from trouble but see if there was something I could do to help. Often, I find I'm completely unqualified and pose more hinderance than help. In other words, I learn just how much I don't know about a lot of things.
For example, I pass a car on the side of the road. Nope. I don't stop to help. I know nothing about cars. Okay, I know a few things. Stick the key in the little slot and turn. If the engine doesn't start, repeat. If the engine still doesn't start, call an expert. I've been rescued on more than one occasion when I had a flat tire. God bless men who ask to help. I know how it's done, but I've yet to be able to change a tire without the extra muscle. I am able to put air in my tires and gas in my car, without help, though I like not having the smell of gasoline or dirt from the tires on my hands. I'm funny that way.
I'm endeavoring to choose liberty over dependency in my life.
Having painted myself in a very dark light, here's the other side of the coin: When anyone calls and asks me about what I do for a living because they're interested in pursuing it, I answer questions until they have no more questions to ask. If I'm able to help, I do. However, I'm still not sure I would actually put my life in peril. It has never been required of me.
I do understand being required to do what others refuse to do and learning to find a healthy balance between serving and enabling. All my life, I always felt like I wasn't enough. I didn't do enough, give enough, share enough, and on and on. Scripture was often used as a whip to push me to give more, no matter the cost to me.
This is what I've learned in the last few years:
Jesus taught to turn the other cheek, not to be a punching bag. Jesus taught that if someone takes your cloak, then give him your coat also, not give him every stitch of clothing you own. Jesus taught if someone compels you to walk a mile with them, walk two, but he does not teach you to carry the other person when they're perfectly capable of walking on their own.
I'm not walking so well on my own, but I'm still trying. I haven't given up. No matter how many times I fall on my face -- and there have been plenty -- I always pick myself up and struggle on, even if it means crawling. There's an indescribable sense of accomplishment when I manage to get back up every time, and it's amazing when I'm able to stand. It never lasts very long, but I keep working, keep trying, keep struggling, because I want that feeling again, that sense of strength and self-confidence that only comes with doing it myself. I want that feeling again so much. It isn't something anyone can give you. It's earned.
I suppose part of the reason I admire the SEALs so much is because these are men with a deep down in their soul knowledge of who they are and what they represent. They don't question or waffle. They see what needs to be done and do it. No whining. No excuses. No praise wanted.
I'm weak. I like the occasional "well done." However, I'm learning it means more from some people than from others.
I think liberty is something a person earns. It can't be given, not really.
Parents can't give their baby the skill to walk. The baby must work and earn the skill. And how they crow when they achieve each small success. When in our lives did little wins stop mattering?
I suppose I'm learning to walk. I've fallen down, a lot. I wonder if I'll ever master the skill. Sometimes I'm too tired to try anymore, so I rest a bit and then try again.
"Give me liberty or give me death." ~ Patrick Henry
Isn't that the real message? Without liberty, there is no life worth living.
I liked all your comments about Christ. He truly is the greatest example, if we look at the whole picture. I saw an image on Facebook that tried to portray what Christ did with the loaves and the fishes, and saying that it was Socialism, so all those Christians out there shouldn't hate it. But to me, the person who created it didn't look at the whole picture, just the one period of time. Yes Christ fed them, but after a time when his sermon was over, all of the people went home and continued to provide for themselves.
ReplyDeleteGood point about them going home. Sort of like needing to feed the masses after a storm, but then they pick themselves up and go back to work providing for themselves and preparing for the next storm that probably won't hit them but someone else. Because they're prepared, they'll be able to help those who have everything taken away, like those who had their homes washed away.
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