It may be tough to lift a mountain and move it out of the way unless you move one stone at a time. Why not just go over, around, or through it.
Anyone who would take the burdens of the world on their own shoulders by themselves, after watching the world is falling apart news, is setting themselves up to make drug companies and psychiatrists rich.
No runners have ever won the race without crossing the finish line before others. Years ago Rosie Ruiz was stripped of two Marathon Crowns, Boston and New York, because she spent most her ‘winning’ times on the subway.
“Her friend Steve Marek told the Boston Globe that Ruiz had admitted her ruse to him, but that she didn’t intend to be the first woman to cross the finish line”, according to the Post.
“She jumped out of the crowd, not knowing that the first woman hadn’t gone by yet,” Marek said. “Believe me, she was as shocked as anyone when she came in first. But at that point they had put the crown on her, gave her the medal and told her she’s the winner. How could she say, ‘No, I’m not’?”
Ruiz joined race in final half mile.
She jumped into the final stretch of the race to finish ahead of Jacqueline Gareau, who set a course record of 2:34:28 that would not be recognized until days later when Ruiz was disqualified.
Ruiz drew suspicion when she seemed clueless about common marathon jargon in a post-race interview with race commentator Kathrine Switzer.
“Have you been doing a lot of heavy intervals?,” Switzer asked Ruiz about a marathon training technique.
“Someone else asked me that,” Ruiz responded. “I’m not sure what intervals are. What are they?”
Other runners said that they hadn’t seen her on the course, and her bib number was not recorded at numerous race checkpoints.
A pair of Harvard students later confirmed that they saw Ruiz join the race in its final stage.” (1)
You can win by cheating.
Everything done in secret will be laid bare.
Going underground, sneaking about to gain an edge may grant some momentary advantage but will end badly.
Emerging from the subway or basement for the last half mile does not give you, other participants, or interested parties a clear view of you or the true situation.
Rosie Ruiz’ cheating caused her to change her last name and legal problems. She eventually lost her ten year battle with cancer at 66. For forty years she carried the burdens of her world wide renowned cheating.
When you face the mountain and go over, under, or through the mountain you can be inspired by those cheering you on. That inspiration can assist you in your endeavor. Ask any real athlete how the roar of the crowds made a difference to encourage them to make that extra effort and capture the win.
Go for the fair, clean win, with honor and integrity, something your mother would be proud of.
Since there have been Preachers, there have been local leaders. Those called to be Preachers know the hours are long and the pay is short and is not the reason for becoming a Preacher. Often times Preachers don’t get to enjoy their days off. Some laugh at the idea of a day off.
The COVID-19 virus has given certain officials an excuse to order churches to shut down or not gather and/or not to sing. Some churches argue that they must give unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and must shut down. Then there are a few, like John MacArthur, who believes that Preachers are called to preach the Gospel to all the world. They believe that they should obey God before man. I see no written exceptions in the Bible or in history for preaching the Gospel to the world.
If anything, I see that history shows that when times are tough, people need a message of hope delivered by Preachers. During many periods of our history, it was the church which provided community support and it was the church which was the source of information.
The British targeted Preachers, who they called the Black Robe Regiment, during the Revolutionary War to censor the message of Liberty and Freedom.
Over the years, just as today, there are hirelings occupying the position of the Preacher, ready to accommodate Caesar. (1). A true Preacher is a servant of the flock, and a servant leader who is ready to rescue the one in his flock who has needs or goes astray.
The community today may appear be to partially isolated and we’re not, just the opposite: we’re bound in Jesus. “If one member suffers, all the members suffer” (v. 26 nasb). As believers in Jesus, members of God’s family, we move toward one another into the pain and into the sorrow and into those murky places where we would fear to go alone. Thankfully we do not go alone. Preachers are needed now more than ever to help heal the body, and the community, and the country. Hirelings won’t do. They will run in the face of difficulty. The Gospel supports Law and Order and rebukes chaos. The Gospel teaches that the devil is the author of chaos.
Chaos relies on fear, anxiety, and corruption to control and intimidate people.
No matter what your trouble is, your helps comes from above. The peace that surpasses all understanding comes from above.
Conflict is part of life on earth. Peaceful resolutions come from above. Peacefully resolving conflicts is preferred by most parties.
Unfortunately there are those who have no interest in peaceful resolutions and, in which case, disengagement is warranted and third party assistance may be required. At times self defense may be required.
Let’s all try to be true servant leaders finding peaceful resolutions wherever possible.
The fully gowned graduating class of engineers sat ready to hear from a class leader waiting for an encouraging send off. With his stoic Dad sitting in the front row my cousin opened with: Yesterday I could not spell engmaneer… today I are one. My uncle led the approving applause.
Educating our children, our future, as we know it today is a far cry from where we started out in our country. Reading was taught at the mother’s knee and continued in the barns, fields, or shops by the father’s side.
The private system of education in which our forefathers were educated included home, school, church, voluntary associations such as library companies and philosophical societies, circulating libraries, apprenticeships, and private study. It was a system supported primarily by those who bought the services of education, and by private benefactors. All was done without compulsion. Although there was a veneer of government involvement in some colonies, such as in Puritan Massachusetts, early American education was essentially based on the principle of voluntarism.[1]
Two hundred years in American history, from the mid-1600s to the mid-1800s, public schools as we know them to day were virtually non-existent, and the educational needs of America were met by the free market. In these two centuries, America produced several generations of highly skilled and literate men and women who laid the foundation for a nation dedicated to the principles of freedom and self-government.
The cornerstone of early American education was the belief that “children are a heritage from the Lord.”[2] Parents believed that it was their responsibility to not only teach them how to make a living, but also how to live. As our forefathers searched their Bibles, they found that the function of government was to protect life and property.[3] Education was not a responsibility of the civil government.
Home education was so common in America that most children knew how to read before they entered school. As Ralph Walker has pointed out, “Children were often taught to read at home before they were subjected to the rigors of school. In middle-class families, where the mother would be expected to be literate, this was considered part of her duties.[4]
For many, formal schooling was simply unnecessary. The fine education they received at home and on the farm held them in good stead for the rest of their lives, and was supplemented with Bible reading and almanacs like Franklin’s Poor Richard’s.
Philadelphia also had many fine evening schools. In 1767, there were at least sixteen evening schools, catering mostly to the needs of Philadelphia’s hard-working German population. For the most part, the curriculum of these schools was confined to the teaching of English and vocations.[5] There were also schools for women, blacks, and the poor. Anthony Benezet, a leader in colonial educational thought, pioneered in the education for women and Negroes. The provision of education for the poor was a favorite Quaker philanthropy. As one historian has pointed out, “the poor, both Quaker and non-Quaker, were allowed to attend without paying fees.”[6]
A college education is something that very few of our forefathers wanted or needed. As a matter of fact, most of them were unimpressed by degrees or a university accent. They judged men by their character and by their experience. Moreover, many of our founding ‘fathers, such as George Washington, Patrick Henry, and Ben Franklin, did quite well without a college education. Yet for those who so desired it, usually young men aspiring to enter the ministry, university training was available. Unlike England, where the government had given Cambridge and Oxford a monopoly on the granting of degrees,[7] there were nine colleges from which to choose.
Education is as important today as it has been since the settling of our nation. What a child learns in school at an early age shapes generations to come.
Before the left sought and succeeded in removing God from schools they had the goal of running the education system. With professors and teachers indoctrinating and pushing anti-American socialism and communism the left could take over American. Their plan requires government run public schools as the only option where they control the message. To be successful they must shut down private and charter schools and all homeschooling by any means possible.
The China virus lockdowns have caused a variety of harms according to reports and studies. Hunger, unemployment, Fear, Anxiety, Depression, Domestic Violence, Child Abuse, Suicide, and Homicides have skyrocketed since the China virus lockdowns began. Indeed Homicide rates have exploded by double digits and experts blame school and church closings alongside the anti-police movement, reports the Wall Street Journal. (8)
It is time to support Homeschooling, Private and Charter schools and leave the socialist and communist indoctrination prevalent in public schools behind.
This month we celebrate victory over a hard fought battle against the best military of its time to win independence in order that we may have Life and Liberty, and pursue Happiness.
According to Jefferson: The “the object of the Declaration of Independence,” he wrote, was “not to find out new principles, or new arguments, never before thought of, not merely to say things which had never been said before; but to place before mankind the common sense of the subject, in terms so plain and firm as to command their assent, and to justify ourselves in the independent stand we are compelled to take. Neither aiming at originality of principle or sentiment, nor yet copied from any particular and previous writing, it was intended to be an expression of the American mind.”
Jefferson restated these noble sentiments in the Declaration of Independence, simplifying the prose: “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.” (1)
Today’s battles include the tyranny of those who are attacking the First Amendment especially Free Speech and the Freedom of Religion. The Second Amendment is also in the attacker’s sights.
To put it mildly, there are some who have strayed from the founding principles of respecting “certain unalienable Rights… [such as] Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness” for all. A certain combination of evil groups have banded together to try to turn our country into a third world nation.
First, there was the China virus attack which caused hurt, pain, and death from cabin fever, domestic violence, fear, anxiety, suicides and the catastrophic illness.
Then there is the invented word which has caused fear, pain, violence, and destruction of property since 1927. The word was invented in 1927 to browbeat dissenters of the communist ideology by Leon Trotsky and is still used today to shut down all nonconformists and businesses; the word is “racist” The destruction caused by and the misuse of the word “racist” is beyond measure and has become increasing vicious.
Since we can identify the perpetrators of this evil, it is incumbent upon us to stand up to these bullies and prosecute them for their appropriate crimes.
Bad apples can be found in many groups and organizations and they must be held accountable and if appropriate prosecuted as well.
Since we are a nation of laws, law and order must be reestablished in rogue areas.
And since we are a nation of laws, due process needs to be afforded to all, by all, without politically motivated knee jerk firings.
A close examination of the tactics of those trying to turn this country into a third world nation will reveal that they are using the communist playbook.
Fortunately we have some leaders, including the White House, who are leading the battle against the evil doers.
Together we will get back to the ‘American Mind’ that Thomas Jefferson wrote about, as we stand together against the bullies.
We know that good triumphs over evil. God is in charge. Let’s follow His lead.
As a butterfly isn’t made overnight, neither are we what we become. What we are today is not what we were yesterday or will be tomorrow.
It takes four stages to become a butterfly: egg; caterpillar; chrysalis, then an adult butterfly. To become a butterfly, a caterpillar first digests much of itself. But certain groups of cells survive, turning the soup into eyes, wings, antennae and other adult structures.
The cells in our bodies are dying and are being replaced all the time as our appearance gets older.
“The harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph. What we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly; it is dearness only that gives everything its value. I love the man that can smile in trouble, that can gather strength from distress and grow.” ― Thomas Paine
On a sweltering day in his small Iowa town, Matt Gage dove into a pool. When he surfaced, his entire left side was useless.
Fortunately, the nine-year-old’s cousin was there to pull him from the water. At the hospital, the doctor diagnosed heat stroke. But after being transferred to the Mayo Clinic, Matt was whisked into emergency surgery with a different diagnosis, the kind usually reserved for the elderly. Matt had suffered not just heatstroke but an actual a stroke.
The prognosis was grim. The neurosurgeon didn’t expect Matt to wake up. If he did, he’d be a vegetable.
But Matt did wake up. The neurosurgeon told Matt he’d never be able to move his left side again. With the young boy’s dream of becoming the next Michael Jordan destroyed, he ignored his father’s urging to try to move his leg. “I can’t,” Matt would say.
Finally, his father confronted him. “Matt, what did ‘can’t’ ever do for you?” his father said. “If you say you can’t do it, you’re not gonna do it. If you don’t start believing in yourself and believing something can happen, that you can get better, then you’re gonna be in a wheelchair.”
He began to make progress. First, he moved his left leg. Then he moved his left arm. He started walking with a brace before leaving the hospital.
Although his left side had a limited range of motion, Matt eventually played basketball, ran a 5K, and even took up skiing. He became a professor and athletic trainer for various universities. He now gives hope to other young stroke victims and their families by showing them that they, too, can get married, have kids, and enjoy successful careers.
Matt believes God used his stroke to help others. If he could relive the moment that changed his life, he says, “Now, today, I would tell you that I wouldn’t want it any different.” (1)
“Somewhere in the world there is a defeat for everyone. Some are destroyed by defeat, and some made small and mean by victory. Greatness lives in one who triumphs equally over defeat and victory.” ― John Steinbeck, The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights
“Have patience with all things but first with yourself. Never confuse your mistakes with your value as a human being. You are perfectly valuable, creative, worthwhile person simply because you exist. And no amount of triumphs or tribulations can ever change that.” ― Saint Frances de Sales
“Whatever troubles we may face, we can trust God to give us strength to triumph.”
― Lailah Gifty Akita
We are living in close quarters now as the wave of coronavirus weaves through different communities around the globe. None of us knows who will be affected next. We are in this together. Over the years we have drifted apart, not even knowing our neighbors. This is a good time to spend with your family, neighbors, and with God becoming our own butterfly.
Let’s call and write those whom we have left to ‘when we get the time’ today. Help everyone you can in anyway you can, making the load a little lighter for all of us. We can accomplish more together than we can on our own. Together we will make our community, state, and nation better than when we started this journey. We should see more butterflies as fruits of our labor soon.
You’ve probably heard me say lead, follow, or get out of the way more than once. Every true leader knows how to follow. Every good leader looks out for, takes care of his team and prepares each team member for leadership.
Then there are those, and you know who they are, who are an intestinal blockages to success.
There are times when all hands on deck are needed address a situation, like in a foxhole when the enemy is coming over the hill.
What if you can not see your enemy and the enemy has overrun your position? I am not specifically addressing spiritual warfare, even though there is a component of the same involved.
At the moment we have two enemies among us: one is a virus; and two, those who are trying to spread fear and incite panic over the virus. Those spreading fear hope to cause sudden overpowering fright; acute, extreme anxiety; a sudden unreasoning terror that is often accompanied by mass flight resulting in chaos.
The virus, Coronavirus, COVID-19, has attacked all but one continent. At least here we have a high level team, a task-force leading the way to contain and eradicate COVID-19, (1), (2). The success of the task force is vital to not just our safety and security but that of each continent touched by COVID-19.
Then there are those, and you know who they are, who are an intestinal blockages to success.
An insistent group has continued their propaganda campaign to incite panic over the virus, a form of TDS. Understand this is not a new out of the box strategy. Antonio Gramsci (3) was a model for Saul Alinsky who is famous for his 12 Rules for Radicals (4). You can watch Saul Alinsky’s 1966 TV interview below and read his 13 Tried-and-True Rules for Creating Meaningful Social Change (5) The Gramsci/ Alinsky program is liberally used by several disruptive groups who clamor for change they do not understand, Socialism. Socialism is a power grab which has failed everywhere.
Hillsdale College produced the following video: Rules for Radicals: What Constitutional Conservatives Should Know About Saul Alinsky
Then there was Alex Cora who caused division in the team after a World Series Championship, one of those TDS sufferers (6). It is an honor to be invited to the White House as a guest, an invitation most will not experience. The White House belongs to all Americans. Each occupant is entrusted with its care for a time and adds to the character and history of the White House.
Cora placed a divide so deep in the finely tuned team that set many records including the number of wins that he installed defeat for the next season. Cora was found to be a cheater as he helped the Houston Astros cheat their way to a World Series Championship. The installed defeatism kept the Red Sox out of the playoffs the next year which partly lead to his firing in January of 2020. Cheating did not payoff for Cora. Causing division led Cora’s his downfall.
Just as Cora sowed his path for his own destruction Alinsky followers and other an intestinal blockages are sowing their own paths to destruction.
The Christmas Story is story of a hero. The greatest evil the world has ever known made the greatest hero the world has ever known. Crucifixion was the cruelest form of torture and execution man devised or used.
Not every hero since has given up his life for another. Heroes generally take no concern for their own life while trying to save the lives of others.
The acknowledgement and veneration of heroes has existed for centuries. It was the ancient Greeks who are accredited with first coining the designation.
A very recent tragedy brought to light another hero. A young graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, whose dream was to become a pilot, is a hero after he reportedly related crucial information about the identity of the Naval Air Station (NAS) Pensacola shooter to first responders, despite having been shot several times, a family member revealed.
Joshua Kaleb Watson, 23, was confirmed as one of the three victims who were killed Friday morning when Saudi national Mohammed Saeed Alshamrani opened fire on a flight training program for foreign military personnel, Adam Watson revealed in a Facebook post. (1)
“Today has been the worst day of my life. My youngest brother gave his life for his country in a senseless shooting. Joshua Kaleb Watson saved countless lives today with his own. After being shot multiple times he made it outside and told the first response team where the shooter was and those details were invaluable. He died a hero and we are beyond proud but there is a hole in our hearts that can never be filled. When we were little I gave Kaleb the name little poot and it stuck. It eventually evolved into pootis and finally uncle poot. Just wish I could talk to him one more time or wrestle with him one more time even though he could probably take me now. Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers in this difficult time. “(2)
Simply put, the key to heroism is a concern for other people in need—a concern to defend a moral cause, knowing there is a personal risk, done without expectation of reward.
Philip Zimbardo: What Makes a Hero?
Christians who helped Jews during the Holocaust were in the same situation as other civilians who helped imprison or kill Jews, or ignored their suffering. The situation provided the impetus to act heroically or malevolently. People choose one path or the other.
Some choose a path to meet the needs of others. For example there is New England Patriots tight end Benjamin Watson will use his custom-made “My Cause, My Cleats” cleats to bring attention to his One More Foundation. H e created the One More Thing Foundation to spread the love and hope of Christ to one more soul.
“And, we do that by following the three charges that are given in Micah 6:8 when it talks about doing justice, loving-kindness, and walking humbly with our God,” he explained.
Watson said that, for the last decade, the foundation has given him the opportunity to meet people with “real needs” and “to know the one who can meet their needs forever and ever.”
“Whether it’s promoting and giving food to those who are hungry, doing events around the holidays, promoting education, standing against injustice — whether that be sex trafficking, abortion, or racial injustice … and also, just bringing kindness to people,” he continued. (3)
Heroes | Restoring Faith in Humanity | 2017
“True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost.” — Arthur Ashe, professional tennis player.
There have been thousands of unnamed and unknown heroes over the centuries. Heroes include those who stood ready, who fought and who died for the cause of freedom, first responders, those who served others, and the many that have helped someone without regard to their personal safety,
The true Christmas Story is an everyday story.
The real reason for the season was born to die and save us all.
How long would you sit through a horror film before you got up and left? Would you sit through the same horror film so many times that you would you be diagnosed with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
Some people have reoccurring dreams where they keep falling. For some, those dreams of falling are so real that they are afraid to go to sleep.
No one is immune to fear or worry. Those who learn to make their fear work for them are more successful and go on to experience the beauty of peace.
There are those who prey upon others by bullying and inciting fear in weaker people feeding their victims’ fears. The bully exploits the fears of others.
The Domestic Violence bully exploits the fears of their victims and cuts off avenues of escape which only heighten the anxiety level of the victim. The Domestic Violence bully claims victimhood and tries to silence the actual victims by fear and intimidation.
The Domestic Terrorist bully exploits the fears of a community or nation, while claiming victimhood and trying to silence the actual victims. Domestic Terrorists employ dangerous methods which can injure or kill large groups within the community.
Life can be frightening enough without having bullies of any kind added to the mix. The fear the bullies cause add stress to our lives that we did not need.
There are days that we just feel stressed from too many things to do and with not enough time to accomplish it all. When the threat is even less obvious, we might feel restless, bored, or antsy (Nothing good is on TV). Perhaps we find ourselves procrastinating to avoid a certain task or encounter (I’ll pay the bills tomorrow), or we find ourselves compulsively driven to finish projects, accomplish goals, or meet deadlines (I can’t relax until I get this done). Fears inhibit our ability to begin or complete tasks big or small, which can exacerbate the situation raising the anxiety level.
Fear is an emotion that typically occurs when we perceive a threat to our personal well-being. Sometimes, it can prompt action against the threat. Fear is a common emotion experienced by most people at some point or another; it’s considered to be a normal, natural part of life.
However, fear can lead people to experience a wide array of physical and mental changes, and irrational or intense fear may interfere with a person’s happiness, sense of security, and ability to function effectively.
Fear can lead you to avoid actions or events. This fear can keep you in the prison of avoidance.
Fear can lead to self medication to suppress the fear, pain, and anxiety. Ironically sell medication can spiral down to addition and death.
Sometimes the assistance of a professional is required to get back on track.
Fear can be tamed.
Fear takes energy.
Fear can be a positive motivational factor.
There are plenty of people and groups who play on our fears and want to turn us in a certain direction. Advertisers often create a need, present their solution and push for a sale.
For three years we have witnessed a group people trying to convince us that up is down and down is up. Now that their scheme is unraveling they are flailing. As they unravel, often times they resort to incoherent and irrelevant arguments.
Lifeguards can tell you the most dangerous person to rescue is a drowning person who is flailing.
It remains to be seen how much collateral damage the drowning group trying to play on our fears will cause this time. They remind me of a two year old throwing a tantrum in a supermarket isle. Good parents know the remedies available. One could only hope they would become penitent children avoiding being fired.
Taming your fears and overcoming worry includes just saying NO to bullies.
I admit sometimes I forget, and sometimes I can’t remember, and I don’t remember which it is. I tell the kids don’t get old and that I don’t know how that can be done, just don’t get old. Yes, they just look at me.
Where does one call to find out the offense of day, moment is? Is there a central clearing house? It sure seems like you can turn TV stations to find the same words and the same outrage coming from different talking heads. I figure someone is passing out words to say. Would someone please give me the phone number of who has a list of the current offense words, hats or whatever? This growing list is giving me a headache.
When I grew up our news came from newspapers where opinions were found in the Editorial section. News contained facts not propaganda.
Newspapers were printed once, maybe twice a day, or weekly.
There were no computers, cell phones, texting, emails, twitter, facebook or other such things that instantly post pictures and information to people worldwide. When someone needed or wanted to pass along information or pictures if they didn’t meet in person they put them in the mail.
TV news was on early in the morning, at noon, 6 and 11pm in black and white. There were no twenty four hour TV stations. AM radio was mostly music, FM broadcasts were rare.
No one was shot up into space yet. President Eisenhower had not yet warned us of the dangers of the military industrial complex.
In others words people looked each other in the eye and spoke to each other.
Yes, in some ways you could say life was slower compared to today. In some ways life was more relaxed than today.
There actually is a way to support my statement that life was more relaxed then. The amount of people suffering from anxiety, which is the activation of the Fight or Flight System, rose in response to increase to the strains of everyday life from the 1950s on.
“The common psychological features of these problems include a mélange of symptoms involving nervousness, sadness, and malaise. The typical physical symptoms consist of headaches, fatigue, back pain, gastrointestinal complaints, and sleep and appetite difficulties, often accompanying struggles with interpersonal, financial, occupational, and health concerns. These complaints account for a large proportion of cases found in outpatient psychiatric and, especially, in general medical treatment.” (1).
Am I suggesting we go back in time, not quite? There are very many good uses of modern technology. The biggest downside I see to modern instant communications is the lack of interpersonal communications.
Interpersonal communication is the process by which we exchange information, feelings, and meanings through verbal and non-verbal messages through face-to-face communication. It is not always what is said, but how it is said and the expressions used. The absence of interpersonal communications can lead to a misinterpretation of what was said which today could lead to quite a flurry of tweets.
My suggestions include: count to ten before sending an instant message, perhaps you’ll change what you want to say; text less; meet as many people as you can in person to talk face to face; and take walks. You just might find your quality of life will improve as will those around, doing your part to make the world a better place.
Let’s start by looking in the mirror….I’ll let you know when to turn away from the mirror.
In the Christmas story of Rudolph: Rudolph and his elf buddy Hermey don’t fit in with the others. Rudolph looks different than the others. Hermey is not interested in making toys. In an odd plot twist, Hermey wants to be a dentist. Not surprisingly, his elf supervisor is upset with the unproductive Hermey. So the two misfit outcasts set off to find their fame and fortune.
In the mirror you see the times on the playground or gathering where you did not fit in and felt like an outcast, a misfit.
Who among us doesn’t occasionally feel battered, bruised, broken? And sometimes it’s because of something we’ve done to ourselves.
Feeling battered, bruised, and broken can lead to fear of the future, fear of success, anxiety, depression and even suicide.
Thankfully God has perfect vision, unlimited resources and doesn’t give up so easily on battered and broken people. Psalm 85 describes people who were perfect candidates for restoration and God is able to restore. God is the God of restoration and forgiveness; those who humbly come to Him are never without hope. He remarkably and wonderfully made us, He does not make junk.
Crime victims, First Responders, and Combat Veterans may have suffered different traumatic events leaving them feeling battered, bruised, and broken and suffering the same Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), feeling like a misfit.
Then there is Eponine who seems the most like a social outcast misfit. She belongs to a gang of wretched people, and she is very poor. She has been through so much in her short life, things she should not even have experienced. She has abusive parents who don’t give two hoots about her, and she feels as if no one loves her and she is alone in the world. In the song on my own she talks about how the man she loves is I love with someone else and how she wishes he would love her. She knows he will never love her like that and sadly comes to terms of being alone because the single man she loves does not love her back. She is like the social out casts of today, because she is in a very bad group of people and usually people that are just looking for directions now a days end up in bad situations like her. Many people feel alone just like she does and many people these days go through though times where the person they love does not love them back. She has no where to go and no one good in her life to help her. She is in a hopeless situation of having terrible parents loving a man that will never love her and she abused by her father. No doubt she has lived a terrible life, and her situation is worst than most social out cast of our world today.
Often victims of abuse, domestic violence, sexual assault become the abusers. It does not have to be that way. Breaking the cycle of abuse can be accomplished saving medical bills and lives.
Throughout life you can be a misfit because you look or dress differently or because you don’t think or talk like others around you. Just because you may look or dress differently or because you don’t think or talk like others around you it does not make you wrong, just different. Being different just may even bring to light a better way.
How many times did you recognize yourself as a misfit in the mirror? Still looking in the mirror? How many times did you overcome those situations you were a misfit? What do you still need to overcome?
If you have had more than one boyfriend or girlfriend, more than one job or overcome a misfit situation – you have been recycled. Being recycled in this manner means you still had plenty of good days ahead.
Continue to recycle your misfit situations for healthy growth. Stay looking in the mirror as long as you need.
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