Insidious Adaptation

This world is oftentimes like a piece of gum. When the gum is taken in, it is so sweet and fills the mouth with flavor, for nothing is like a good piece of mint gum after a meal. This gum however, becomes a burden when we chew it for too long. Yet, oftentimes the obligation to continue chewing past the pleasurable part keeps us in misery. We hold on to the movement of this formless wad between our teeth, and yet all flavor and thus pleasure is gone. We think to put another in, and then another, for if two tastes good, imagine three. The pleasures of this world, the promises to satisfy our needs sadly fall very short. I only say sadly because that after all is where most people waste their time, me included. Yet, we know the truth inside that we are meant for more than this world, that we have a higher standard, and that we aren't born good. We are sinners who fail to do the right thing, think the right thing, and perform to at least some kind of moral compass everyday. We know ...

"All our steps are ordered by the Lord; how then can we understand our own ways?" - Proverbs 20:24 What are we called to do with the short amount of time we have here on earth? Honestly, are we to live in this perpetual cycle of ups and downs, building some self-fulfilling legacy that in 1 year, 10 years, 100 years is dead anyway? The man who invented some of our most-common household items, what was his name again? We look and glorify the people of the present as though they are what we would like, yet, we fail to see that the focus and adherence to the present makes us die in the moment. " Blessed are those who find wisdom, those who gain understanding"- Proverbs 3:13   Looking to the future is deemed "unhealthy" in the world of psychology. We are called to be "mindful" of the here and now, yet, we fail to see what mindfulness is anyway. We fail to see that when we are being "present" what we are doing oftentimes is succumbing to...

What shall we say, then?  Shall we go on sinning so that grace may increase?   By no means! We are those who have died to sin;  how can we live in it any longer?- Romans 6: 1-2 Certainly not.  More casual than bold. A "dog returning to its vomit."(Proverbs 26:11) Casual Christianity seems to be the norm, unless of course you are so bold to deny Christ altogether. In that case, the critical perspective of your life, I have witnessed, seems to bring you closer to truth than those who know it and still turn away.  Christianity, what I have come to understand in the church, is a belief in God the Father, sending His Son that died on the Cross for the wretched sins of mankind. Christians are "born again" living life dead to sin. Christ the son, God the Father, and the Holy Spirit now reside in us. Our sins are forgiven. Christians recognize this. This recognition and "new life" is now the part where casual Christianity diverts. Rarel...

A choice to change isn't exactly where the change starts is it? Like isn't the choice to change just acknowledging a change needs to occur and the reason for a change is what is being addressed? Is the reason for change because of a consequence, because of something so significant that it can no longer go unnoticed? Take weightless for example, many people claim they need to change their diet or lifestyle to lose weight, but then instead of taking out what they must already recognize as the problem materials, by way of recognizing lifestyle choices, they go too far and want a restrictive diet plan. Doesn't it make more sense to start with acknowledging why the change in the first place? After all, the holidays are a time where it becomes socially acceptable to eat more indulgent foods therefore putting on weight in a lot of cases, especially if the rest of the year you were working on diets only to let it go at the end and do it all over again the next year. Isn't start...

When it all comes down, and all the things of this life, the accolades, the accomplishments, the desire for more, more money, more retirement, more wealth, no longer mattering, no longer allowing to define a man on a sinking ship, I think it will only be then that we can see what really mattered the entire time. Give thanks to the God of heaven, for  his steadfast love endures forever . -   Psalm 136:26   When a day comes, there are no accomplishments, there is no great writing for the day, no awesome gym workout, the clothes don't fit like they used to, old photos are nothing more than reminder of previous youthful looks, negating the happy times they were indicated for, we are still loved. No matter what the social group, the status quo is, if we fail to meet it, we can relax because we are loved. We are loved no matter what we do. We are loved when we screw up. We are loved when our hair is a mess, or we wear the improper clothing items to the work event. We...

My body may be sick, but my soul, she is weary. It is the man inside that has been sick my entire life, My. Entire. Life. The word MY cannot be acknowledged there enough, for it is my life right? Me! The problem with sickness isn't the sickness itself, for whether it is a cold, flue, stomach bug, depression, anxiety, these reactions and ways we interpret them are neither good nor bad, but just are, yet, we submit. WE submit to the flu and gather around those who have it, comforting, loving them, "say prayers," and all rightly so, for the, "flu" as we know it to be does have the potential to hospitalize or kill a person as the media likes to give their annual account of flu-related deaths. The, "flu" or a, "cold" seem to be these underlying spirits that promote fear and hyper-cleansing. Yet, then there are "superbugs" that evolve from such hyper-sanitary areas making us sicker than ever, maybe by resistant strains of the sickne...

“and said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn around and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven!” Matthew 18:3 NET The innocent unwrapping of pretty paper. The adults patting themselves on the back as what lay beneath a tree a bounty a plenty. We are good parents, for we provided these extras. We may secretly compare with others and what they have, we my have held on a little too tightly to the shopping this year, spent a bit much, been carried away with elation. For this too shall pass.  Tomorrow is December 26th and the reminders of what we aught to do shine as bright as the bulbs do on this Christmas morning. We are called to be consistent us adults, yet, we show children emotional doing by overdoing, and overreacting, we are at times their biggest stumbling blocks. Children’s minds are infinite in possibilities. Like Jesus, Immanuel, How numerous are his ways. The mind of a child submits eas...