Saturday, April 28, 2012

Waiting

So I have this friend who is just beginning to touch an area that I happen to be good in. I have this world of information that I am just waiting to give him. But I also know I have to wait.

I have to wait because he is understandably not as excited as I am because he is just beginning. It is no fun being a novice. It is more fun to be a master than it is to be a novice. I have to wait because he can't see what I see. I see implications and new vistas and new ways of doing life.

And, of course, my mind goes to God and I imagine Him being excited and yet having to wait - wait for us to be ready, wait for us to be humble, wait for us to be available, wait for us to be excited about life the way He is excited about life.

He sits on a large stone and smiles and waits - waits with bubbling excitement to give us the universe.

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Better and Worse

So I have this friend who needs to grow. But the odds are, he won't. And the main reason he won't is because of his concept of his identity. He considers himself first and foremost, a Nice Guy (and he really is). But he is a Nice Guy Who Needs to Change, which is not a part of his Nice Guy Identity.

If he ever came to me for counseling, the first thing I'd have to "work" on, is his concept of his identity. We would make no progress as long as he held to his Nice Guy Identity.

He has a lot of hostility towards his wife, but he can not feel his feelings of hostility, mainly because Nice Guys are not hostile towards their wives, plain and simple. And he is, after all, a Nice Guy.

We always needs to hold our identities lightly - we never know as much as we think we do - we are both better and worse than we know.

Saturday, April 14, 2012

Fantasy Worlds

I have had the good fortune of meeting 2 people who have actually lived the life I have told myself, (had I lived that life), would bring me happiness. The interesting (predictable?) thing is, when they talk to me, what they talk about is all their troubles.

And there is a part of me that is saying, "Hmmmm, robin are you listening? They are living your fantasy, but listen to all their troubles!"

Yes, all my present day "troubles" would go away instantly . . .  if I had lived the life I imagined would bring me happiness . . . only to be replaced by a whole new set of problems.

How blessed I am to have met my Fantasy Worlds in the flesh . . . to remind me of what I already know.

Friday, April 13, 2012

(Not) Playing Fair

Whenever I find myself indulging my need to be jealous, I remind myself that if I am going to choose . . . to wish I could have someone else's blessings, . . . . I have to also be willing to be "jealous" of the problems and angsts and irritations and disappointments that come with every blessing.

But no, Jealousy is very selective (not to mention, unrealistic). She only wants the up-side of the situation and then pounds the "jealous one" with half truths and Look-What-You-Don't-Have's. Chances are, if Jealousy told the truth and played fair, we wouldn't be "jealous" at all and then Jealousy would cease to exist. Hmmmm, maybe that is why She doesn't tell the truth.

Thursday, April 12, 2012

hmmmm .... again

So the same people who gave us Jesus, gave us Elijah. Jesus and Elijah are similar in that both had a message and both did miracles and both ascended to heaven - Jesus died first, Elijah didn't. You'd think if resurrection was the reason we worship Jesus, that the people in Elijah's time would have worshipped him. But no religion grew up around Elijah and in some ways, he was "greater" than Jesus.

Am wondering why people were changed when Jesus rose and not when Elijah rose. Am thinking there was more to Jesus' resurrection than just a "rising" - else Elijah would have been God as well.

Saturday, April 7, 2012

Not Ashamed to Call Us . . .

I'm at a place in life where pretty much what is . . . is what is going to be. In other words, the way things are now . . . is pretty much the way things are going to be. So if I don't like the present, I'm not going to like the future.

So I work hard at liking the Present.

One exercise I enjoy is whenever I am around people, I imagine each one as an expression of God. In other words, I pretend that God disperses Himself into thousands of containers and this is what He looks like in Thousands Of Containers. And I look at each Container (person) and marvel at that expression of God. And it is sorta fun because it helps jar the stereotype of who God is and who people are.

So today I was in Aldi and I looked around at all the Expressions of God and He looked funny and odd and weird and tired and interesting and busy and kind and good and patient and poor and confused and respectful and did I say, gentle?

I liked imaging that God is not ashamed to "own" us; God is not ashamed to "own" our expression of Him. If I were God, my ego would have to make sure that "yawl" got it right. He is ego-less. "Us-all" get to just be "owned" - we get to just be loved.

Friday, April 6, 2012

Back to Seriousness!

Back to seriousness!

I'm really amazed just how true the statement is, "When the student is ready, the teacher will be found." I have recently become aware of how many  "teachers" I have in my life. And I'm sure it is because, only in the last decade, have I become teachable.

So one of my "teachers" is my supervisor who is telling me about a conversation  he had on the phone. He is teaching me how to be assertive - he just doesn't know it.

Another of my "teachers" is a friend who gave a $20 tip to a person in need. She is teaching me to give more - she just doesn't know it.

Another "teacher" is a co-worker who makes the work place . . . work for her. She is teaching me to take charge - she just doesn't know it.

Another "teacher" is a friend who speaks too assertively. She is teaching me to keep my mouth shut - she just doesn't know it.

And my final "teacher" is a friend who calls her mother every week - she is teaching me to stop resisting responsibilities, she just doesn't know it.

Kudos to all my teachers out there - you are wonderful.

Thursday, April 5, 2012

Warning: The Height of Silliness

Okay . . . this is not  thought provoking . . . but I just can't get this image out of my mind.
At work, I'm always overhearing people's conversations.
Inevitably, interspersed among all the words, is laughter.
And all I can think of, when I hear a person laugh or a group of people laugh, is hens clucking.
If an alien came to earth and facial expressions and sounds coming out of mouths had no meaning, our laughter would probably sound to them, the way the clucking of hens sounds to us.

.... like I said, this is not thought provoking.