Facts Versus Feelings

Old habits and old beliefs die hard. For centuries people believed Aristotle's opinion that the heavier an object was, the faster it would fall to earth.

According to a report I read, in 1589 Galileo challenged Aristotle's teaching. He invited learned professors to the base of the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Galileo went to the top of the tower and pushed off a ten-pound and a one-pound weight. Both landed at the same instant, but the professors still wouldn't believe what they saw. They insisted Aristotle was right.

Once again, here is another case of people believing what they want to believe. It's like the old saying, "Don't confuse me with the facts, my mind's made up."

Some of us avoid facing facts because they're too threatening. Others of us don't face reality because it's not in sync with our feelings. I'm a great believer in acknowledging feelings but I can't always trust my interpretation of them.

How foolish it would be to be driving on a highway and disregard a major warning "danger ahead" sign because we don't feel the sign is correct. Maturity recognizes one's feelings, checks them out for reality, and doesn't allow them to control him or her. When it comes to life, if our feelings don't harmonize with God's Word, we'd better follow God's Word rather than make our feelings the voice of authority, which can be a very dangerous path to follow, especially when it comes to eternal life and eternal values.

The Impact of Unity

Even if stronger people have to slow down a little (which can be difficult for some) to allow weaker ones to keep up, pulling together as a team at home, work and play makes life much more fulfilling and harmonious. It also gets you to where you want to go. Without this we spend lots of energy going in circles.

Working together in harmony and unity is a very valuable lesson we learn.

Dear God ...

please help me ...

to be a team player...

at home ...

at work ...

and at play ...

and especially ...

in the work ...

you have for me to do ...

as a part of what you are doing ...

in the world today ...

Thank you for hearing and answering my prayerz ...

Be Prepared

Sometimes the seemingly simple things in life can teach us some of the most important lessons. Take ants for example. Even though their "brain" (central ganglion or nerve) is less than one-tenth the size of a pinhead, ants live in highly organized social colonies. Some collect food, others build the nest and keep it clean, and some look after the queen ants. Nurse ants clean and feed the larvae. Soldier ants guard and protect the food-collecting ants.

Among other lessons, the ants "who store up their food in the summer" teach us the importance of being prepared ahead of time for whatever might come our way. The Chinese proverb, "Dig your well before you're thirsty" makes the same point. Children and teenagers need to be prepared for life, for entering the work force, and for taking care of themselves. Those who are planning to be married should be prepared ahead for it; unfortunately too many aren't. And among taking care of various responsibilities, adults need to be prepared ahead for retirement and old age.

And most important of all, we need to be prepared for life after death when we will meet our Maker face to face. How tragic beyond all measure for those who aren't prepared for life after death. Whatever you do, don't let this happen to you.

The Need for Precaution

While the ants teach us many lessons, including the importance of being prepared as much as possible for whatever lies ahead, the conies or rock badgers show us the need for precaution and being responsible for taking care of ourselves.

These small animals hide behind the rocky crags jutting up in the mountains where no eagle can get to them. They also hide close to the rocks where they remain unseen by prowling lions. Away from the safety of the rocks they would be dead meat.

Too many people today are over-dependent, expecting somebody else or the government to take care of them. God's goal for each of us is that we mature and grow up, not be independent nor over-dependent, but interdependent. If we don't take care of ourselves and accept responsibility for getting our needs met in healthy ways, nobody else is going to do it for us. Rock-badgers, if they didn't exercise precaution and take care of themselves, would either starve or be eaten. If we don't learn to do the same, we will, in the long run, "be eaten up!" And when we expect others, including for some the government, to do for us what we can and need to do for ourselves, we remain immature, over-dependent and irresponsible.

Furthermore, in life, the reality is that we can't trust everybody. The more we know and understand ourselves, the more we will be able to sense whether we can trust somebody else or not. And we certainly can't trust our arch enemy, the devil. "Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour."

We don't want to become cynics, but we do need to be careful, take necessary precautions against all forms of moral ineptitude, wrong-doing and evil, and accept full responsibility for every area of our life. Above all we need to daily trust our life and way to God as did one saying, "The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge … He is my stronghold."

GIGO

Most readers will be aware of "computerese" language that has developed in relation to computers, email and the web. Words, or letters rather, with specific meanings such as: HTML, FTP, PDF, CSS, LOL, RSS, GIGO etc., etc. GIGO stands for "garbage in garbage out." That is, if we put garbage (nonsensical information) into our computer we will get nonsensical information out of it. It's the same with life.

For instance, you may have read the story about the mother who was cleaning and slicing vegetables for a salad when her daughter came into the kitchen to ask permission to go to a movie—one with sufficient rating to indicate that it had "adult" language and other offensive material.

"All the kids are going," she said, "and their parents don't think it will hurt them."

As she talked, she saw her mother pick up a handful of the scraps and throw them into the salad. Rather startled, she shouted, "Mother, you're putting the garbage into the salad!" "I know," her mother replied, "but I thought if you didn't mind garbage in your heart and in your mind that you wouldn't care about a little in your stomach.

Thoughtfully, the girl picked the peelings from the salad and then smiled at her mother. "I guess I'll just tell them I'm staying at home tonight," she said as she went through the kitchen door.

The world we live in is plagued by evil and moral filth. A vital part of living a happy, meaningful and fulfilling life is, "turn away from evil and do good."

Good Guilt—Bad guilt

Good Guilt—Bad guilt

Guilt, false guilt, and shame can all look alike but they're not. For instance true guilt says you have done something wrong or bad, while shame says you are bad; that is, you are a bad person.

With real guilt, if you know you've done something wrong, and confess it and make restitution, the feeling of guilt goes away. If it doesn't, it may be false guilt or shame you are struggling with.

You can confess false guilt forever, but that will never resolve it because it isn't guilt. It is a conditioned response learned mostly in earlier years.

It can come from parents and siblings, sad to say.

Some of it, at least, works like this: "If you do what I want you to do, behave the way I want you to behave, conform to what I want, and even believe what I want you to believe, I will give you my love and approval. If you don't do these things, I will withhold my love and approval and make you feel guilty. Or if you do things I don't like, I will make you feel ashamed with my 'shame on you' statements and attitude."

False guilt and shame are destructive ways of controlling other people. Both are psychologically damaging.

If we have sinned and done wrong, we are guilty regardless of what we feel. Its purpose is not to make us feel that we are bad persons or to shame us, but to inform us that we have done wrong and that there are always consequences. The feeling response we ought to feel when we have done wrong is sorrow. This is to motivate us to come for forgiveness, wherever possible to put right the wrongs we have done, and to genuinely repent of (turn away from) sinful actions.

Conscience

Conscience

Conscience can be a tricky thing. We weren't born knowing what was right or wrong but with the ability to learn this. The word "conscience" is comprised of the prefix "con" meaning "with" and "science" meaning "knowledge" and literally means "with knowledge."

At birth our conscience was like a blank tape that was programmed by those who shaped our early life. If you grew up in a rigid, legalistic, punitive home, or religious group, chances are you will have a rigid, legalistic and punitive conscience. Some of these people feel so controlled, restricted and smothered that they end up rebelling against or even deadening their conscience.

As a result of faulty teaching, some of us sometimes feel guilty (conscience-stricken) when we shouldn't and don't feel conscience-stricken when we should.

As adults, to have a healthy conscience, many of us need to deprogram the legalism and other faulty teaching we received in the past, and reprogram our conscience with knowledge based on so that we know what is right and what is wrong so our feelings no longer confuse, control or lead us astray.

Guilt Throwers and Guilt Catchers

When we stop codependent caretaking, we can expect to get lots of flack, especially if we've been doing this for someone for a long time. They, too, are not likely to give up their overdependence without a struggle. Some will pout, some may "scream and holler" and some may get downright nasty. They are very adept at playing the "blame-game" and will do all in their power to make us feel guilty and/or ashamed.

Getting blame/ shame/ guilt thrown at us is bound to happen. But if we catch (accept) it, that's our problem and we'll need to work on that.

To stop catching these "fiery darts" we need, first of all, to see them for what they are and say kindly but firmly to the thrower, "You're not trying to make me feel guilty are you?" or "You're not trying to make me feel bad are you?"

They will deny it of course, but if we stop catching what they're throwing, eventually they will at least stop throwing it to us.

However, if we are blame/ shame/ guilt throwers ourselves, we need to admit what we are doing (as it is a way of "dumping our stuff" onto others) and take full responsibility for resolving "our stuff" (our own unresolved problems/ issues). And, if we are blame/ shame/ guilt catchers, we need to see this for what it is and stop allowing others to "dump their stuff" on us.

At times we may need to confront irresponsible people with the truth of their actions, but it isn't our responsibility to make them feel guilty.

Nothing Changes If Nothing Changes

Way back in AD 10 Julius Frontinus said, "Inventions have reached their limit, and I see no hope for further development." Even Thomas Edison, the great inventor, was at times himself a doubting Thomas. He said, "Fooling around with alternating current is a waste of time." In 1934 Albert Einstein, of all people, declared, "There is not the slightest indication that nuclear energy will be obtainable."

For many of us if change doesn't compute with what we have seen or experienced, there can be a tendency for us to reject it.