Blackwater
02-21-2016, 12:40 PM
Folks, for a moment here, I'd like to consider and share what it is within us that tends to help us stay on the straight and narrow, and tends to keep us away from "falling off the wagon" in life, with all its many temptations.
For me, I think the biggest sense that helps me fight off temptation is simply recognizing how willful and determined I can be - in other words, humility. Humility is often used interchangably with the word "meek," but being humble in NO way implies being weak. All views of the word "humility" as indicating weakness are due to the attitude of PCness, and NOT from its actual, traditional meaning. We seem to misuse a lot of words today, and sadly, don't recognize the sometimes subtle differences in how we use them and what they really mean. We all too often have "feet'a clay," and settle for some sort of approximation, and generally don't much even LIKE any effort at precision in what we say, and often what we do.
It hasn't always been this way. I think the most often seen evidence of that, for those of us who remember a different day, a differing generalized ethic, and a different set of people, is how people once were legitimately more amenable to accepting and admitting their own faults and shortcomings than people seem to generally be willing to do today. It seems that the "modern" ethic is to insist that we're always right, even sometimes when we're at our most willful state. Maybe ESPECIALLY then?
I still remember my Dad, an old 3-war Marine (China, WWII and Korea), and how he tended to take almost anything very casually, except when he saw someone in need. But he was always trying to be shrewd and discerning when he encountered someone in need. If he thought they really needed a dressing down, or what's been called "reality therapy" recently, that's what he gave them. But AFTER that, when they thought they weren't going to get anything from him, he'd relent and give them a little of what they needed, and let them determine what they did from that point on. He was comfortable letting people make their own way, and their own decisions, and just accepted it as a routine and basic precept in life. He, wisely I think, was content to let others be themselves, and all he really required of them was that they recognize simple Truths, as best as they could, and make some real and dedicated effort to do the best they could. Present him with someone who'd always been pretty diligent, and he'd be as generous as they needed, obviously thinking that he and the family could "make do" somehow, while those in need may not have that reassurance. In other words, he was humble, but not dumb, and he didn't think much of people who'd try to use him for their own game, and could be quite pointed and definitive in dealing with that type. He was a genuinely good man, and I miss him and his kind greatly.
I think those guys who fought in WWII were fairly uniformly like that, generally at least. People do differ in their reactions to war, and how they let it affect them. That's just simple human variability at work. Even so, though, there was once a clearcut and distinct difference in the ethics and morals of the nation, quite generally. And it was an ethic of being humble, but dedicated to whatever seems to be right, as best as we can discern it. Now, the generally operating ethic seems to be "do it if it feels good, and worry about the results later," and the only moral seems to be "eat, drink and be merry (sex, drugs and rock'n roll?) for tomorrow we die."
As Christians, we're supposed to regard the end of our earthly iives as just the beginning of the next life. We all fear the unknown, though, and since none of us CAN know what it's really going to be like, we tend to rationally resist that death, and spend big money and effort in trying to delay it. That too is, or at least can be, rational and in line with Christ's will. If we want to live so we can have more and additional opportunities to serve Christ, then it's a good thing. If all we want is to delay "the inevitable end," then I think we're thinking wrong-headedly. But many do, it seems.
We "moderns" tend to regard things very much on a surface level, and in an "operative" manner, and don't really seem inclined to go below the surface much or often. Thus, we deny ourselves a greater and more complete understanding of what it is we think, do or feel. This is sad, because it diminishes our ability to appreciate the real value that all of life has for us. Even material things can be appreciated more fully and righteously with an appropriate regard for what it took to creat them, and all the Gifts from God that went into them. This in turn, diminishes the actual sense of reverence for the little, daily things in our life.
Ever been afield and hungry, wet, cold and dejected? Remember how great a simple cup of coffee was when you got one? It's like the Heavens open up and pour its blessings down upon you! This clearly shows how undiscerning we usually are, doesn't it? The coffee is no better nor worse than it's always been. Only our ATTITUDE toward it has changed! And that in turn demonstrates how crucial our simple attitudes are in determining whether and how much joy there is in our lives, and how much we recognize and appreciate the real source of all these potential joys.
Humility, I think, is the greatest indicator of whether and how much a person truly is a Christian, and I mean that in the sense of not just a believer, but a dedicated (though always imperfect) follower of the advice and counsel left us by the Son of God, who came down to earth and suffered in our stead in payment of all our sins. How could we NOT be humble in that realization? Ever had a higher up in your work organization take a rap for you? It's rare and getting rarer in today's ethic of "accountability," but it still happens now and then. If that happened, would it impress you? How much more did Christ do for us? If there's anything more humbling, that truly focuses our appreciation on the actuality and reality of things, I can't even imagine what it could be.
And yet, the world around us is haughty, full of hate and doubt, distrustful (and often rightfully so!), "Machiavelian," and bent toward using each other like toilet paper almost. Friends, it didn't get that way by accident! WE did it OURSELVES, and we did it by giving in, a little at a time, to our baser instincts, and simply calling it "good for now." THIS is how we began and sustained our seemingly near constant decline in this country, almost from its beginning.
Some incredibly brave and dedicated and good men, not all that different from us except in beliefs, courage and attitude, gave and bequeathed to us the greatest gift that man has ever collectively received in the entire history of humankind - Liberty and Freedom. And now, we seem intent on throwing it away on a mere whim of self indulgence.
Truly, the ONLY thing that can save us is for a general return to the thing that always made us what we have traditionally wanted to be, and that is a return to Christ, and the simple and wondrously effective humility that this instills in its true followers. Will we do that? Nobody knows, but the prophesies indicate we very well will not, but it'll be, as always, our OWN decision in that. What makes it so painful in considering this question is that we've been promised that if we, who call ourselves by Christ's name, will "humble ourselves" and return to His ways, He will heal our nation and things COULD be good again. I think there's no more clearcut indication of the real value of humility than this simple and very clear and untwistable promise from Christ himself. It's one of the larger reasons that I have come to regard simple humility as the greatest hallmark of a real, true Christian.
He also said, "Many will come in my name, and say yea, yea, but they do not know me." Maybe it's time we, as individuals and a nation, rethink just how much of a REAL Christian we've been, and what we need to do to take Christ's advice and counsel, and redirect ourselves and set our course more precisely, for our own benefit and for the nation's? I personally think it'd be a great thing for us to do that, but I can decide for only one man, myself.
Personally, I have a sense that we're not likely to do that, and that we're seeing the prophesies being fulfilled as we sit and watch. I'm no prophet, though, and I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
What other hallmarks do you see in people that makes you instantly think they're Christians? There are other things, to be sure, and the one above is just my own observation from what I've seen in this life. What's yours?
For me, I think the biggest sense that helps me fight off temptation is simply recognizing how willful and determined I can be - in other words, humility. Humility is often used interchangably with the word "meek," but being humble in NO way implies being weak. All views of the word "humility" as indicating weakness are due to the attitude of PCness, and NOT from its actual, traditional meaning. We seem to misuse a lot of words today, and sadly, don't recognize the sometimes subtle differences in how we use them and what they really mean. We all too often have "feet'a clay," and settle for some sort of approximation, and generally don't much even LIKE any effort at precision in what we say, and often what we do.
It hasn't always been this way. I think the most often seen evidence of that, for those of us who remember a different day, a differing generalized ethic, and a different set of people, is how people once were legitimately more amenable to accepting and admitting their own faults and shortcomings than people seem to generally be willing to do today. It seems that the "modern" ethic is to insist that we're always right, even sometimes when we're at our most willful state. Maybe ESPECIALLY then?
I still remember my Dad, an old 3-war Marine (China, WWII and Korea), and how he tended to take almost anything very casually, except when he saw someone in need. But he was always trying to be shrewd and discerning when he encountered someone in need. If he thought they really needed a dressing down, or what's been called "reality therapy" recently, that's what he gave them. But AFTER that, when they thought they weren't going to get anything from him, he'd relent and give them a little of what they needed, and let them determine what they did from that point on. He was comfortable letting people make their own way, and their own decisions, and just accepted it as a routine and basic precept in life. He, wisely I think, was content to let others be themselves, and all he really required of them was that they recognize simple Truths, as best as they could, and make some real and dedicated effort to do the best they could. Present him with someone who'd always been pretty diligent, and he'd be as generous as they needed, obviously thinking that he and the family could "make do" somehow, while those in need may not have that reassurance. In other words, he was humble, but not dumb, and he didn't think much of people who'd try to use him for their own game, and could be quite pointed and definitive in dealing with that type. He was a genuinely good man, and I miss him and his kind greatly.
I think those guys who fought in WWII were fairly uniformly like that, generally at least. People do differ in their reactions to war, and how they let it affect them. That's just simple human variability at work. Even so, though, there was once a clearcut and distinct difference in the ethics and morals of the nation, quite generally. And it was an ethic of being humble, but dedicated to whatever seems to be right, as best as we can discern it. Now, the generally operating ethic seems to be "do it if it feels good, and worry about the results later," and the only moral seems to be "eat, drink and be merry (sex, drugs and rock'n roll?) for tomorrow we die."
As Christians, we're supposed to regard the end of our earthly iives as just the beginning of the next life. We all fear the unknown, though, and since none of us CAN know what it's really going to be like, we tend to rationally resist that death, and spend big money and effort in trying to delay it. That too is, or at least can be, rational and in line with Christ's will. If we want to live so we can have more and additional opportunities to serve Christ, then it's a good thing. If all we want is to delay "the inevitable end," then I think we're thinking wrong-headedly. But many do, it seems.
We "moderns" tend to regard things very much on a surface level, and in an "operative" manner, and don't really seem inclined to go below the surface much or often. Thus, we deny ourselves a greater and more complete understanding of what it is we think, do or feel. This is sad, because it diminishes our ability to appreciate the real value that all of life has for us. Even material things can be appreciated more fully and righteously with an appropriate regard for what it took to creat them, and all the Gifts from God that went into them. This in turn, diminishes the actual sense of reverence for the little, daily things in our life.
Ever been afield and hungry, wet, cold and dejected? Remember how great a simple cup of coffee was when you got one? It's like the Heavens open up and pour its blessings down upon you! This clearly shows how undiscerning we usually are, doesn't it? The coffee is no better nor worse than it's always been. Only our ATTITUDE toward it has changed! And that in turn demonstrates how crucial our simple attitudes are in determining whether and how much joy there is in our lives, and how much we recognize and appreciate the real source of all these potential joys.
Humility, I think, is the greatest indicator of whether and how much a person truly is a Christian, and I mean that in the sense of not just a believer, but a dedicated (though always imperfect) follower of the advice and counsel left us by the Son of God, who came down to earth and suffered in our stead in payment of all our sins. How could we NOT be humble in that realization? Ever had a higher up in your work organization take a rap for you? It's rare and getting rarer in today's ethic of "accountability," but it still happens now and then. If that happened, would it impress you? How much more did Christ do for us? If there's anything more humbling, that truly focuses our appreciation on the actuality and reality of things, I can't even imagine what it could be.
And yet, the world around us is haughty, full of hate and doubt, distrustful (and often rightfully so!), "Machiavelian," and bent toward using each other like toilet paper almost. Friends, it didn't get that way by accident! WE did it OURSELVES, and we did it by giving in, a little at a time, to our baser instincts, and simply calling it "good for now." THIS is how we began and sustained our seemingly near constant decline in this country, almost from its beginning.
Some incredibly brave and dedicated and good men, not all that different from us except in beliefs, courage and attitude, gave and bequeathed to us the greatest gift that man has ever collectively received in the entire history of humankind - Liberty and Freedom. And now, we seem intent on throwing it away on a mere whim of self indulgence.
Truly, the ONLY thing that can save us is for a general return to the thing that always made us what we have traditionally wanted to be, and that is a return to Christ, and the simple and wondrously effective humility that this instills in its true followers. Will we do that? Nobody knows, but the prophesies indicate we very well will not, but it'll be, as always, our OWN decision in that. What makes it so painful in considering this question is that we've been promised that if we, who call ourselves by Christ's name, will "humble ourselves" and return to His ways, He will heal our nation and things COULD be good again. I think there's no more clearcut indication of the real value of humility than this simple and very clear and untwistable promise from Christ himself. It's one of the larger reasons that I have come to regard simple humility as the greatest hallmark of a real, true Christian.
He also said, "Many will come in my name, and say yea, yea, but they do not know me." Maybe it's time we, as individuals and a nation, rethink just how much of a REAL Christian we've been, and what we need to do to take Christ's advice and counsel, and redirect ourselves and set our course more precisely, for our own benefit and for the nation's? I personally think it'd be a great thing for us to do that, but I can decide for only one man, myself.
Personally, I have a sense that we're not likely to do that, and that we're seeing the prophesies being fulfilled as we sit and watch. I'm no prophet, though, and I sincerely hope I'm wrong.
What other hallmarks do you see in people that makes you instantly think they're Christians? There are other things, to be sure, and the one above is just my own observation from what I've seen in this life. What's yours?