THE ENEMY WITHIN IS THE ENEMY WITHOUT

So the [Seeker], too, belongs not in the seclusion of a cloistered life but in the thick of foes. And The Kingdom is to be in the midst of your enemies. -- "Life Together," Dietrich Bonhoeffer, at p. 17.

It seems that most everything that is true, of God true, is a paradox...on its face, it does not make sense, yet meditate on it, and it becomes clear.

I have ever been taken with the 23rd Psalm...in particular, "Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies." Whose reasoning mind would think that's a good idea? And yet, what better way to walk free of our enemies than by sitting down to, literally or metaphorically, break bread with them?

It seems to me that, in the end and after trying everything else possible, the path to peace is quite simply the overcoming of self, a.k.a., ego reduction in depth. There is no more lasting way to that end than making peace with our enemies, our enemies within and without...for there are no enemies without that do not originate within.

Thank You.

"I WILL FIGHT NO MORE FOREVER"

The sin of respectable people reveals itself in flight from responsibility. -- "Life Together," Dietrich Bonhoeffer, at p. 11.

That quote reminds me of the one about all it takes for evil to prevail is for good men to do nothing.

Whenever I come across that, I wonder if I'd step up or if I'd justify passing by.

My prayer of praise today: If it be Thy will for me to meet a situation requiring responsible action, thank you that I recognize it, that I recognize it as Yours to fix through me and for leading me into and through it with passive resistance, the way of Christ Jesus, Gandhi, Martin Luther King, Jr., and Chief Joseph.

I am grateful that I have no idea how to do that...and that I know better than to try to think of a way, because my mind is already trying to figure a way to win.

The will of God is not in winning or in losing...it is in showing forth peace for and from all.

Thank You.

NO FINAL RESULT OF MINE IS MINE

It's an unsettling experience to realize the aging process as it is happening. Usually, it has been in looking back that I saw, realized, the change. But just yesterday as I was driving to my final new-knee exam (passed with flying colors, thank you, Jesus, doctor and friends), I hesitated to go  to the doctor's office by my usual route because of a dicey left-turn. So I drove a longer way. I realized as I did that that something akin to it had happened just the day before, too.

I also realized that now is the time for me to make a decision about my driving. I get to decide to either go with what's happening, i.e., limiting me more and more in my driving and thus other areas which I haven't even noticed yet...OR, consciously try something new.

The new being to consciously practice the Presence in the present...to stay in the now, which simply boils done to staying alert NOW, as I drive. Be the driver of the school bus as it were. I continue driving, doing, as I have always done, but to consciously keep a clear mind...no longer carrying on long and difficult conversations with my sister who was wrong back in 1984 and has never even seen it much less admitted to it, or with one or the other political figure who is a flamer if there ever was one, and here's what s/he needs to do about it. (I can always continue those  in the safety of my own home.)

It is a comfort to me that I know my own limitations today...I know I cannot of myself do that just because I know that is what I need to do.

Here's where I remind me that my job is to make the decision and know that all of heaven will align with me to carry me forward to perfect completion. I can trust that because I have experienced that. It's no longer just pretty words that I wish were true...there's the comfort in self-knowledge, in having taken that leap of faith more than once and landing on the other side, better for it.

It's all about remembering that no final result is mine, and more important that my reasoning mind will never get me there.

Thank You.

THIS, TOO, SHALL PASS

I have that "walking under a pall" feeling. Just can't quite get my interest up for much of anything.

I even have an idea for a neat project...put it on my "2-Do" list on Monday and have carried it over every day since. Even added a second neat project that includes Ruckus...am carrying it over daily.

This is the kind of behavior about which I can get rigid, righteous and right with others...when others behave this way, I'm saying. I wear out that old Nike slogan..."Just Do It," for God's sake. Yeah, yeah, yeah...I will.

The good news is that I know that is just a temporary bother, not a lifetime sentence. The oh-well-hell news is that only I can do something about it.

This is where I miss my old belief in a Santa Claus God...because then, when I prayed for Him to fix it and nothing happened, I had someone/something, to blame.

This, too, shall pass.

Thank You.

IT IS MINE TO INTERPRET...WAR OR PEACE?

I wonder if paradox is fourth dimensional? It seems to me when I meet anything that is unacceptable to my reasoning mind, if I find the paradox in it, I can wend my way to peace.

I remember not too long ago when there was much opining and editorializing about the State of South Carolina flying the Confederate flag over its capitol's dome. To so many people, the Confederate flag represented all the ugly, bad and evil of the Civil War, and there was much resistance to it, to the flag, in general.

In my opinion that flag (any flag in fact) doesn't represent anything in and of itself. It is a piece of material, that's all. Its only representation is in what a person brings to it, i.e., chooses to think about it. What we lay on it in our own mind is on us.

I thought then that another way of looking at the flag is: It was under that banner that so many were freed...don't be insulted, honor it, claim it as your own. Human nature being what it is, I can all but guarantee it wouldn't be flying over the state capital for long. There...you get the same result fighting about it gets you only without the fight...you wend your way to peace.

A friend of mine recently told me how angry she was at someone who asked her a question...an innocuous question, I thought. My friend was insulted, incensed and trying to figure out how to return the insult...without it being an insult, of course, because hers would be justified. I worked out in my own mind how the perceived insult could be perceived as a compliment...I didn't offer it up, because my friend was way into enjoying her angry hurt. And, I reminded me, other people's justified anger is usually nothing to the uninvolved others.

I like that my job is to learn (and then to remember) that how I interpret what I hear/see/think is my choice...that I get to choose resistance or acceptance. In other words, it is my own personal choice whether my mind lives at war or at peace.

Thank You.

FAVORABLE EVENTS ISSUE FROM OUR DECISION

Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creation, there is one elementary truth the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: that the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too. All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one’s favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance which no man could have dreamed would have come his way. Whatever you can do or dream you can, begin it. Boldness has genius, power and magic in it. Begin it now. - Goethe

HUMAN CONDITION OR CYA?

I remember sometime ago when a friend of mine took exception to something she thought I'd said. She exploded, chewed me a new one in fact. We did the necessaries, made up, and been fine since...but always with a hairline of underlying tension running between us.

I still feel a tish of resentment, a soupcon (to quote Chet) of hurt feelings, an edge of justification for my part in it...and I do not doubt that those are the exact feelings of my friend for herself. In truth, that is what is keeping the hairline of underlying tension in place. I know, however, that whoever lets go first (gets over herself first) "wins" which allows the other to feel like a winner, and we both come out with love in our hearts.

Which, of course, sets up the most important question: If I do believe that, why don't/won't I "just do it," just let go?

Is that simply the human condition?

It seems to me lately that  I'm hearing a lot of "that's the human condition." About most every unexamined stumbling block in our daily life, in fact. But I believe that the human condition is such that we need to live by a higher standard than we’d naturally choose...else "human condition" risks becoming an excuse, a cop-out, a CYA for doing what we want to do because we want to do it. Which may or may not be true...it's just what it seems to me today.

As for me, I've got too many human conditions as it is...and none of them have ever given me peace of mind.  I'm going to continue praying, "Bless her, change me."

Thank You.