For some are just wrong, just bad, just inexcusable.
Stop trying to justify the evil.
Stop attempting to rationalize the nefarious acts.
In your explication, enablement is all that can be found.
Woe to those who call evil good, and good evil; who put darkness for light, and light for darkness; who put bitter for sweet, and sweet for bitter! Woe to those who are wise in their own eyes, and prudent in their own sight!
Principles to live by… well, that can be a long list, I guess. But to sum it all up, I suppose the principle that all the rest would fall under would be a principle of love. Yet, if I start describing this in detail, it might look a little different than the societal demand for love these days.
In our current culture, there seems to be a demand to show love by accepting a certain opinion as truth. Or the demand might be that if I disagree with you, then, I’m not showing love but hatred.
Or if I’m not giving you what you want, then I’m not showing love. Or maybe if I’m not giving up something I want, or maybe I’m not suffering in a certain way, then I’m not showing the kind of love I’m supposed to be showing.
Pure, unadulterated love is sacrificial, gracious, and compassionate; yet, it is also full of truth, strength and courage.
True, unblemished love is is not one of these without the other. It is both.
If a parent loves his or her child but allows that child to run in the street to play while the truck is barreling down the path, is that really love?
If a spouse declares his love yet leaves and showers everyone else with his affections because he wants more, is that really love?
If a friend promises to share love and friendship yet breaks every confidence because she wants her liberty to share, is that really love?
If a child proclaims his love to his parents yet steals and destroys because he wants his freedom to live as he pleases, is that really love?
True love will rejoice in the truth, will bear all things, will believe all things, will hope all things, and will endure all things. Love never fails.
And love is impossible without abiding in the Only One who gave true love.
So, what principles define how I live? I guess I could begin with 1 Corinthians 13. I certainly don’t live it perfectly, but I strive toward it daily, only by seeking Him first.
Because He loved me first, now only can I begin to truly love.
Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I have become sounding brass or a clanging cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all knowledge, and though I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, but have not love, I am nothing. And though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor, and though I give my body to be burned, but have not love, it profits me nothing. Love suffers long and is kind; love does not envy; love does not parade itself, is not puffed up; does not behave rudely, does not seek its own, is not provoked, thinks no evil; does not rejoice in iniquity, but rejoices in the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails. … And now abide faith, hope, love, these three; but the greatest of these is love.
Step out to the oceanside and take a seat for a while.
Muddled hearing and crooked pathway?
Hike up to the summit and breathe deep.
White noise consuming and anxiety rising?
Find the waterfall and sit and soak till the sun sets.
Don’t stop until the spinning stops and the fog clears.
The heavier the load and the wider the time will determine the stretch you need.
But keep seeking. Keep breathing.
Let it all wash over your soul until all is at peace.
These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.
In the vast expanse of the Grand Canyon, one small tree branch can seem minuscule.
Just as my life can seem futile in the sense populate of the human race.
What can my life accomplish among so many?
How can my life make an impact within he density of the crowd?
And it would be so easy to stay tucked away in a hole, never reaching, never moving.
Yet, how is it with that little one by your side?
How is it with the coworker across the room?
How is it with the roommate on your hall
How is it with the ones surrounding you day to day?
If you quit, who will lead them?
If you let go, who will breathe life to them?
If you walk away, who will speak hope and truth?
That small branch on the side of the canyon might be the resting place for the weary, fluttering butterfly.
That small branch might be just the finishing touch for the next of a feathered friend.
The insignificance we feel might be just the highlighted reel of the one who can’t see tomorrow.
Don’t look out over the sphere and lose your way.
Look right in front of you, beside you and behind and reach.
Be hope. Be light. Be truth. Be life.
Another parable He put forth to them, saying: “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field, which indeed is the least of all the seeds; but when it is grown it is greater than the herbs and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and nest in its branches.”
Beauty really does come in all kinds of shapes and sizes. It all depends on your perspective and angel.
Viewing a brilliant mountain sunset can be all about the incline or all about the glowing orb in the sky. It can be all about the painted sky.
Or it can be about the tiny patch of flowers at your feet that will be trampled if you take another step.
Viewing an enormous crisis can be all about the chaos of sights and sounds or about the multiple dilemmas that have just been added. It can be all about the loss of time, money and energy.
Or it can be about the tiny hand grasping yours that is desperate for reassurance and comfort.
It all depends upon your vantage point.
So, what do you see?
Where is your focus?
Beauty is all around you if you can only open your eyes to see.
For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, is working for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory, while we do not look at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen. For the things which are seen are temporary, but the things which are not seen are eternal.
2 Corinthians 4:17-18
My eyes will watch over them for their good, and I will bring them back to this land. I will build them up and not tear them down; I will plant them and not uproot them. I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me with all their heart.
My journey didn’t stop with mere time travel or writing; it led me to become one of the most sought-after empaths, a soulful psychic who reads the hidden depths of the human spirit. I’ve been blessed—or perhaps burdened—with an ability that allows me to feel the emotions of people from every corner of time.
I am a licensed psychologist based in Greece. My love for housekeeping has inspired me to create this blog about home management and family relationships. I hope you enjoy reading as much as I enjoyed writing!
Dedicated to movie nerdom, nostalgia, and escape. In the late 90s, I worked at Blockbuster Video where they let me take home two free movies a day. I caught up on the classics and reviewed theatrical releases for Denver 'burbs newspapers and magazines. Today, while raising two young, beautiful daughters with my amazing wife, I look forward to anything rated R and not Bluey. Comments and dialogue encouraged!
the grizzle grist mill 