Distortion

Wisdom Nugget: “Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.”

False witnessing is still lying. Telling tales that you’re not sure of. Our text says LIKE a club and a sword and a sharp arrow - all weapons. This is how bad false witnessing cuts, as bad as weapons. Let’s look at a few "types" of lying.

Slandering: Some sins are worse than others in terms of damage done. If I steal from you I can return the item. But if I spread lies about you I may not be able to ever undo the far reaching effects. A man spread lies about his pastor, was convicted, repented, and asked him how he could make it right. The pastor told him to get some feather pillows and rip them open, and place one feather on every porch in their community. It seemed strange, but he did what he was told. He went back to the preacher and said he was done. He said, no, you’re not. Go back and pick them all up now. “But I can’t. The wind has taken them who knows where!” The pastor said, “So it is with the words you have spoken about me.” When we slander someone’s reputation we do irreparable damage. And we’ll answer to God for it!

Tale bearing: This person loves to tell things. They share ‘news’. But they don’t care if their facts are correct or not. This is gossip, rumors. Don’t spread it. Try to stop others from doing it. Don’t repeat gossip. "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people." Next time you’re enjoying listening to someone gossip, remember this fact: Anyone who will gossip TO you, will gossip ABOUT you! Don’t allow your ears to become someone’s personal trash cans. They usually come and say things like “people are saying…” who are people I ask? Put a face to it. It’s just a cowardly way of saying what the person wants to say, putting it off on someone else. Why is it that it’s always the same handful of people who always hear these things? It’s because they send off a signal that says, “I’m willing to listen to any garbage you want to drop off.”

Lying by insinuation: Nothing was really said but suggested, for example saying something like; “Today was a good Sunday, Mike was sober today!” You have suggested something to whoever you’re talking to.

Flattery: This is insincere praise, saying something to someone’s face that you would never say behind their back. Salesmen are often bad about this. “The words of his mouth were smoother than butter, but war was in his heart: his words were softer than oil, yet were they drawn swords.”
Half truths: Not telling the whole story. A parent asks their teen where they are going. “To Andy’s house.” That’s true, but they leave out where they’re going from there. This is why in court you swear to not just tell the truth, but ‘the whole truth.’ Half the truth equals a whole lie.

Exaggeration: Blowing the truth out of proportion. One pastor was brought before the deacons for exaggerating so much. They confronted him. He said they were right. “I’ve cried a barrel of tears over it. We might not have known it. But these are all lies and when told can damage someone’s life for years. If you’re not sure of a tale, then don’t tell it. If you have to tell one, tell it as it happened or as much as you know. Don’t try to add or subtract from the story. Don’t forget “Like a club and a sword and a sharp arrow Is a man who bears false witness against his neighbor.”

Remember our 21 Days of Strictly Truth-telling. Are You Game?   How has it been so far?

Photo credit: The 8 Rule of Truth Bullies. By Kid Mercury

The Exchange

Wisdom Nugget: We are told to let our light shine, and if it does, we won't need to tell anybody it does. Lighthouses don't fire cannons to call attention to their shining- they just shine.

                                                                                                         - Dwight L. Moody

Happy easter

There was a young man who had been raised as an atheist. He was training to be an Olympic diver but the only religious influence in his life came from his outspoken Christian friend. The young diver never really paid much attention to his friend's sermons, but he heard them often. One night the diver went to the indoor pool at the college he attended. The lights were all off, but as the pool had big skylights and the moon was bright, there was plenty of light to practice by. The young man climbed up to the highest diving board and as he turned his back to the pool on the edge of the board and extended his arms out, he saw his shadow on the wall. The shadow of his body in the shape of a cross. Instead of diving, he knelt down and asked God to come into his life. As the young man stood, a maintenance man walked in and turned the lights on. The pool had been drained for repairs.

As Luke says, “Two others also, who were criminals, were being led away to be put to death...” Like the young diver, or the criminal, we were all being led away to meet our doom but somewhere from heaven Jesus came down to earth. He bore the shame on the cross, became a curse for us. “...cursed is anyone that hangeth on a tree”. Yet without a grudge, but with so much love took our place, and He died for you, and for me. As we remember the greatest sacrifice the world will ever know, of our Saviours’ death, let us rededicate our lives to Him; in word and in our actions. Even while the Lord was experiencing the physical, emotional and perhaps even spiritual agony of the cross, still he expressed the divine nature of His love for man and had the compassion to listen to the pleas of one who had great need. He repressed his own pain to answer to the needs of a sinner. He promised that man, the thief, that that very day, He would be in Paradise.

We shall end with a quote by, "In every grave on earth’s green sward is a tiny seed of the resurrection life of Jesus Christ, and that seed cannot perish. It will germinate when the warm south wind of Christ’s return brings back the spring-tide to this cold sin-cursed earth of ours; and then they that are in their graves, and we who shall lie down in ours, will feel in our mortal bodies the power of His resurrection, and will come forth to life immortal."

What does Easter mean to you?

Happy Easter!

Photo credit: www.dreamstime.com

CORPORATE DISTORTION

Wisdom Nugget: "Whoever would love life and see good days must keep their tongue from evil and their lips from deceitful speech."

The shop keeper who uses false weights and measures or a poor quality of material or workmanship to deceive the public is as guilty of sin as the thief who robbed a bank. He's trying to get something more than a legitimate return for his product. He hopes to get an extra something for nothing. And this is a common thing today. People stretch the truth or lie about their products today. The greatest commercial sin today I think, is the practice of false advertising (corporate lying). The consumer is led to believe that the product will make their skin smoother, make him lose weight, make her hair longer or dye her hair permanently. In many cases these statements used in advertising is a blatant lie. The manufacturers know the product will do little or none of the things they said it will do but they go ahead to rob people of their money, rest of mind, happiness and sometimes even their health. Most companies have attained whatever they have today by deception, these are the days of corporate lying. This is the age of supposedly respectable and responsible people - lawyers, business owners, union leaders, government officials, university professors, etc, lying to us without batting an eye.

Think of the tremendous benefit that would come to the public if each company would honestly tell the truth about their product and honestly seek to serve the consumer's real needs. The effect of this would be literally astounding.

A store manager hears his clerk tell a customer, "No, ma'am, we haven't had any for a while, and it doesn't look as if we'll be getting any soon." Horrified, the manager came running over to the customer and said, "Of course we'll have some soon. We placed an order last week." Then the manager drew the clerk aside. "Never," he snarled, "Never, never say we're out of anything - say we've got it on order and its coming. Now, what was it she wanted?""Rain," replied the clerk. Hilarious isn't it? That is what most business men are today. They make a fool of themselves trying to make money. But they seem to forget that with time and experience the consumers will discover what a lie their services and products are and stop doing business with them. It's a ripple effect. One consumer will pass the message to others about what the product really is and with time, no one will be knocking at your door anymore.

From our text, if you want your business to see good days ahead, then keep your tongue from evil and lips off deceitful speech. You cannot lie to your customers and expect God to bless your business. He's not that kind of God. Put your honest best into your business, advertise your best and when your customers do business with you and see that you were honest with them, they'll come back again, and they'll be bringing someone else along. If your products have side effects, be honest about the side effect, if it has an expiration date; make it available for your consumers. It is better they acquire it with that knowledge than a false one. They'll never come back to you when they find out you lied. In fact, they'll spread your falsehood and that'll create a path that'll lead to the end of your business. Dorothy Allison said in Bastards out of Carolina - "Things come apart so easily when they have been held together with lies."

Young people today are learning to steal and lie in an immensely organised fashion. Not only are they stealing articles by the thousands from stores, shops, schools, and even churches, but they regularly organise an intricate system of cheating on tests and exams. It is a very big problem in our society today: cheating. Because it's generally looked on without too much alarm, this practice is really growing at an unprecedented rate. What the young people may not have been told is that cheating is taking a score or grade illegally. It's stealing or lying about one's base of knowledge being covered in a test or an exam. But students do it all the time. They find a way around tests, cheat, and then lie about what they really know. We really should start a move of change in our society today and call a lie what it is, a lie.

Photo credit: othellomotifs.wikispaces.com

Black Or White?

Wisdom Nugget: "Those that think it permissible to tell white lies soon grow colorblind."
                                                                                                      - Austin O'Malley

It's amazing the length society goes today in order to detect liars. Lie-detecting machines are now used to detect whether or not a suspect is lying. The encyclopedia Britannica also refers to these "Lie detectors also known as polygraphs... is an instrument for recording physiological phenomena such as blood pressure, pulse rate, and respiration of a human subject as he answers questions put to him by an operator. These data are then used as the basis for making a judgment as to whether or not the person is lying."

The lie detector has been used since 1924 for investigations but is still controversial and not admissible in court. Even with this equipment, we still cannot really determine if someone is really telling the truth or not.  Plainly put, it is difficult to find an  acceptable way of always knowing if someone is telling the truth or a lie. This confuses and complicates daily living. We use every kind of moral and physical device to get the truth out of people and half of the time we do not succeed. Think for a moment how easy and simple it'll be to catch and prosecute criminals, if everyone was truthful. Would there even be need for a court of law? All the police have to do is ask "did you burglarize the office, Yes or No?" If the suspect says yes, the sentence is passed. If no, the real criminal is searched for. Wouldn't that be awesome to not have to go through the stress and expenses of a trial? Governments can be set straight if everyone just told the truth. "Are you in office for the people or for yourself, Yes or No?"

The story is told of four high school boys who couldn't resist the temptation to skip morning classes. Each had been smitten with a bad case of spring fever (A feeling of restlessness, excitement, or laziness brought on by the coming of spring). After lunch, they showed up at school and reported to the teacher that their car had had a flat tire. Much to their relief, she smiled and said, "Well, you missed a quiz this morning, so take your seats and get out a pencil and paper." Still smiling, she waited as they settled down and got ready for her questions. Then she said, "First question - which tire was flat?" Try to imagine what the boys will write. Do you think one of them would be bold enough to tell the truth? Your best guess is "No" right? Well, so is mine. Do you know why, because we're so used to people lying to us first thing and you know what happens when you tell a lie, you cover it up with another lie.

Austin O'Malley said "A lie has no legs. It requires other lies to support it"
Tell one lie and you are forced to tell others to back it up. Stretching the truth won't make it last any longer.

We really don't realize how prevalent lying has become in our society. We try to cover up by calling it a white lie. It's easy to tell a white lie because, after all, it's for the best of ourselves or for someone we're trying to protect, right? Just to stretch the truth a little bit. To exaggerate, maybe, a bit. You see, lying in our society is very widespread and goes deep into everything everybody does. It's not just about telling about an outright lie, it's also saying one word that may have two meanings so as to mislead somebody. It's also stretching the truth beyond what is.

Always remember that "a righteous man hates lying..." Righteousness is simply living a good moral life. This goes to say that whoever lies is unrighteous; the person lives an immoral life. Examine your life today, do you live morally or immorally?

Photo credit: foundationsofmorality.com

21 Days of Strictly Truth-telling. Are You Game?

Wisdom Nugget: "A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow." 

Imagine a world without lies. Imagine everyone told the truth and no one had the ability to tell a lie. Wouldn't half of the world's problems be gone; if not all?

Imagine a salesperson selling products to you without telling a bit of a lie. Imagine politicians telling us plainly the way things are and sparing us a weave of lies. Imagine companies advertising the real quality of their products and services? Imagine the news giving us all the details without filtering or adjusting it to suit 'political interests', wouldn't the world be a better place? Do you still think there'll be corruption? But alas, almost all of us are guilty of lying at some point in our lives, irrespective of the fact that we claim to have lied for a 'good cause'.The truth is, a lie is a lie, irrespective of your reason for telling  it. Herbert said, "Dare to be true: nothing can need a lie: A fault, which needs it most, grows two thereby."
,
Today, lies are a part of our daily lives.

Mr. Ben executes a contract for "Jay & Jay Enterprises", and submits his quota to the company and he's told "the cheque will be in the mail tomorrow", one month later, Mr. Ben hasn't gotten any mail. Brenda runs into an old friend at the mall but is in a hurry. She is 30 minutes late in picking up her children from school so she takes her old friend's business card and says "I'll call you tomorrow". Brenda walks out of the mall and drops the business card in the nearest bin. Stephanie goes to apply for a job in a company and the secretary to the managing director says "we're not recruiting right now but give me your resume; I'll pass it to my boss and who knows he might have a position for you?" Stephanie leaves her resume with the secretary. Three months later the resume is still on the secretary's desk gathering dust. Ada gets dumped by Femi, two weeks later; she gets a wedding card from him. When she confronts him, he says "No I wasn't dating her when I was with you". Really? So, he's marrying her two weeks after he met her? You walk into a boutique to buy a dress and on the label it's written "one size fits all". Ten minutes later you're in the changing room with the attendant struggling to pull the dress down your torso. So who is "all" referring to? Chloe is lying on the dentist's table, the dentist looks into her eyes and says :"open wide it won't hurt a bit" thirty minutes later Chloe works out from the dentist's with red eyes and a tight throat from screaming in pain. Brad was supposed to meet John by 2pm; by 1:55 he's still at ha ome trying to get dressed. John calls and Brad says "I'm in a cab, almost at the venue of the meeting". Since when is a house movable? A sales representative approaches you and says "please sir, can I have one minute of your time". You generously give a listening ear and ten minutes later the guy is still talking. Most of these lies are a few of the many we tell everyday. Some of these lies are told inadvertently because it has become a habit. Some even call it a necessity. Since when is a lie necessity? On no account should you twist the truth.

"You shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another." Make up your mind today to stop dealing falsely or lying to one another. P

ractice 21 days of telling the truth and nothing but the truth and you'll see it becoming a part of you.

Kindly comment on your experiences with practising 21 days of strictly telling the truth. What have you learned from it? Do you feel constrained or liberated?

Photo credit: The 8 Rule of Truth Bullies. By Kid Mercury

The Crash Is On Its Way

Wisdom Nuggets: "There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man." - Alan Paton

Alan Paton (Photo from: todayinliterature.com)

 A woman who worked in a small office, so that her boss could see what she did all day, had to use the toilet a lot because she was pregnant. The boss made a note of how long she was gone each time and took the minutes out of her lunch hour. Another employee, a salesman had leukemia and was very sickly. His boss insulted him every day and doubled his sales quota while he was still undergoing chemotherapy. He quit and recovered. One American film producer had 109 assistants in five years, not counting those who stayed less than two weeks. He fired one for buying him the wrong breakfast muffin. A man's hand was cut off by a giant cutting machine in the factory where he worked. After 6 months of being admitted in the hospital due to the loss of limb, he was laid off the job. He was considered a waste of company resources. Yet another staff was involved in a fatal motor accident while on official duty as sales rep. He was still battling with the trauma of the accident in his hospital bed 3 months later when he was informed that he has just lost his  job. The company figured out it will be too expensive to pay his medical bills. Till today in my country, a lot of house helps are not treated better than the 12th century slaves in Brazil : physically, sexually and mentally abused just to remind them that they are different from the cute kids of the house owner. They eat sparingly, sleep seldom and work for long hours.

Believe it or not, the way you treat your staff, domestic or corporate, will either attract a blessing or bring down a curse on your organization, your family and your life. When Job's entire world crashed, trying to figure out where he had gone wrong, this is one of the questions he asked.
 “Have I ever been unfair to my employees when they brought a complaint to me?What, then, will I do when i am confronted?When my books are examined, what will I say? Didn’t the same God who made me, make them?Aren’t we all made of the same stuff, equals before God?

The truth is you may be the world's richest man and your organisation may be responsible for the livelihood of a million families who would suffer if you did not employ them, but Job says before our Creator you are no different from your staff. You are equals. The only difference is that you have been privileged to have these great cooperations in your care. You have been entrusted with the opportunity to extend His blessings to others.

Life never blesses us for ourselves but we are blessed so that we can be blessings to others. Some CEO's adopt a Eugenistic attitude, which gives the feeling that they came from a superior breed from their staff and therefore, embark on a program of deliberate and systematic dehumanisation, humiliation and degradation. Most employers suffer psychological abused, emotionally traumatized and physically drained. Fact is today you can be the boss and tomorrow a staff too.

First ,if you treat your staff as a worthless bunch of people you are just doing a favour, it will reflect everyday in their poor performance, affect their self esteem and deplete the company's market share.

Secondly, employers who treat employees shabbily and pay them poorly must hear these words: "you are not pilling up wealth but judgement." You'll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon your  organisation.

"...And a final word to you arrogant rich: Take some You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you lessons in lamentation. You’ll need buckets for the tears when the crash comes upon you. Your money is corrupt and your fine clothes stink. Your greedy luxuries are a cancer in your gut, destroying your life from within. You thought you were piling up wealth. What you’ve piled up is judgment. All the workers you’ve exploited and cheated cry out for judgment. The groans of the workers you used and abused are a roar in the ears of the Master Avenger. You’ve looted the earth and lived it up. But all you’ll have to show for it is a fatter than usual corpse. In fact, what you’ve done is condemn and murder perfectly good persons, who stand there and take it..."

Speaking of crashes: the whole world has recent been dealing with a global economic meltdown. Maybe we are just discovering some of the reasons behind the crash sweeping the world's big businesses.

Robert Burns said "Man's inhumanity to man makes countless thousands mourn!"
To which Alan Paton replied "There is only one way in which one can endure man's inhumanity to man and that is to try, in one's own life, to exemplify man's humanity to man."
.

The Curse of Injustice 4

Wisdom Nugget: "Don’t steal from the poor, because they are poor; and don’t use your position to crush the weak  The Lord will take up their case and press the life out of those who oppress them."

Oppression

Have you ever wondered lately why more rich people are getting struck with cancer, tumors and very deadly heart diseases ?

I still remember like yesterday, my days in Law School. One of our lecturers walked very slowly into class, apparently not feeling well. We - the students - empathized with him and expressed our sincere wishes for his speedy recovery. Then one of the students dared to ask him the nature of his ailment, whereupon he said something that we all laughed about then, but now I know not to be a joke, He said to us "Oh don't worry, you all can't relate with it. It's rich people's sickness!"

Many years after, I realized that indeed one of the greatest tragedies of life is how the rich steal from the poor, and use their position to oppress the weak. And how as a result, their Maker "...takes up their case and  presses the life out of those who oppress them."  You will recall I had said before that because of the complexities of human existence, at one time or another we will all be vulnerable, defenseless and very susceptible. There are laws which make it obligatory for the strong to protect the weak; the informed to protect the ignorant; and the powerful to protect the defenseless. To violate these aforementioned laws is to attract a curse. Take away those laws and society will be brutish, savage and barbaric. To undermine those laws is to take us right back into the jungles of the Stone Ages where only the fittest survived.

In 2010 was born the Arab Spring: the wave of revolutionary demonstrations, protests, and civil wars occurring in the Arab world. This revolution which began on 18 December, 2010 fought against oppressive dictators who had stolen from the poor and used their position to crush the rich

Till date, these official thieves (Presidents) are being crushed and disgraced out of power. We have witnessed the fall of the Presidents of Tunisia,[1] Egypt,[2] Libya,[3] and Yemen;[4] civil uprisings have erupted in Bahrain[5] and Syria;[6] major protests have broken out in Algeria,[7] Iraq,[8] Jordan,[9] Kuwait,[10] Morocco,[11] and Sudan;[12] and minor protests have occurred in Lebanon,[13] Mauritania,[14] Oman,[15] Saudi Arabia,[16] Djibouti,[17)and  (18) Western Sahara.

To you who are being oppressed, your case will be taken up. Your oppressors will have the life pressed out of them. But to the rest, let me remind you of the words of Carl T. Rowan, "It is often easier to become outraged by injustice half a world away than by oppression and discrimination half a block from home."

And Jonathan Sacks wrote "If you want a free society, teach your children what oppression tastes like. Tell them how many miracles it takes to get from here to there. Above all, encourage them to ask questions. Teach them to think for themselves."

Solomon summarizes it in these words: "Moreover, I saw under the sun that in the place of justice, even there was wickedness, and in the place of righteousness, even there was wickedness. I said in my heart, All will be judged: both the righteous and the wicked. For there is a time for every matter and for every work."

Desist from stealing from the poor. Stop using your position to crush the weak. If you don't turn a new leaf, ...it's only a matter of time.

Photo credit: whatsaiththescripture.com

Cultivating Friendships

Wisdom Nugget: "Anger is cruel and fury overwhelming, but who can stand before jealousy?"

Friendship

Friendship is a powerful aspect of the human existence.  No man is poor who has friends, and no man is rich who does not have friends.  But, of course the meaning of friendship may differ from person to person and culture to culture.  In recent times, people are moving towards social isolation. People now work from their homes; most people shop online; others have their goods delivered at their doors. We now bank online and get enough entertainment on cable. We no longer create opportunities to cultivate social skills; people now live in loneliness and emptiness. But the truth is we are created for friendships. As the popular sage goes, "No man is an island".

A man came home to find his house in disarray, he proceeded to the bedroom to find his wife frantically pulling drawers and throwing things all over the room. "What's going on honey?" he asked "I can't find it," she replied. "Can't find what?" the confused husband asked but the woman didn't reply. She kept on throwing things around. The man walked over to her and gripped her shoulders. "Look at me. Look at me." The woman burst into tears. "Calm down. Take a deep breath, breathe". The woman stopped sobbing and looked into her husband's eyes. "What are you looking for?" he asks calmly. "I can't send holiday greetings to our friends," she said amidst sobs. "Why not? Don't you do that every year?" the husband asked. "No, not that," the wife said in frustration. "I can't find the card list" "the card list?" the still confused husband asks "I don't know who our friends are without it. Do you?" The man looked away thoughtfully and took a beep breath, "well then, send to only our parents, at least we remember who they are."

This might seem funny, but this is what friendship has been reduced to for most people: a name on a list that gets contacted out of tradition once a year.

The sad part is that the people who manage to make friendships are superficial and shallow. We have become too busy to keep true friendships.

 Jeremy Taylor once said, "by friendship you mean the greatest love, the greatest usefulness, the most open communication, the noblest sufferings, the severest truth, the heartiest counsel, and the greatest union of minds of which brave men and women are capable." There's something very powerful about friendships; they not to be taken lightly.

The quoted writer considers those things in life  lasting value, and those things that are passing, empty, or vain.  He makes a list of vain things.  He lists pleasures, money, fame, and many other things, which in the end, are empty and void of lasting value and meaning.  In the end, he lists very few things that are not vain. These are very few things, which have lasting value and benefit.  But one of those things which he sees as having lasting value is friendship. Someone once said that, "the fabric of friendship never gets worn out."

The value of true friendship is everlasting. It's not just calling on them only when in need but also being there for them when they need you. It's not just staying when others stay, but also staying when others leave. It's not just saying what they want to hear but also saying what they don't want to hear.

Keep friends and be loyal to them. Don't die in isolation. We all need friends!

Photo credit: santabanta.com

Taken For Granted

Wisdom Nuggets: "Gratitude is a fruit of great cultivation; you cannot find it among gros people."

Gratitude

 E.W Howe once said "The greatest humiliation in life is to work hard on something from which you expect great appreciation and fail to get it."

One hot summer day, two friends walked along a road. Soon it became too hot for them to go any further. Seeing a large plane tree nearby, they plopped on the ground to rest in its shade. Gazing up into the branches one said to the other, "What a useless tree this is. It does not have fruit or nuts that we can eat and we cannot even use its wood for anything." "Don't be so ungrateful," rustled the tree in reply. "I am being extremely useful to you at this very moment, shielding you from the hot sun. And you call me a good-for-nothing!"

Burton says, I was taking my usual morning walk when a garbage truck pulled up beside me. I thought the driver was going to ask for directions. Instead, he showed me a picture of a cute little five-year-old boy. "This is my grandson, Jeremiah," he said. "He's on a life-support system at a Phoenix hospital." Thinking he would next ask for a contribution to his hospital bills, I reached for my wallet. But he wanted something more than money. He said, "I'm asking everybody I can to say a prayer for him. Would you say one for him, please?" I did. And my problems didn't seem like much that day, because I realized that I was blessed witht he good things of life; gifts which I'd been taking for granted.

 Margaret Cousins put it this way, "Appreciation can make a day, even change a life. Your willingness to put it into words is all that is necessary. Eric Hoffer adds, "The hardest Arithmetic to master is that which enables us to count our blessings".

Have you ever taken time out to give thanks for the so many blessings and abilities we have, which most people will gladly pay all the money in the world to get?

One afternoon, I was having a great time upstairs at home, when someone called me down stairs to help fix the sink. I went and in the course of fixing the sink, I cut my little finger. The finger bled. I ranted and raved for a good part of the afternoon. Later that evening, I read an article about lepers, why and how they lose their limbs. I learned that this loss of their limbs was due to their inability to feel pain which could make them bump into sharp objects, bleed and not feel pain. This, however,  isn't an excerpt from a thesis on leprosy, though. My point  is, after reading that article I was grateful for the ability to feel pain. And as absurd as that might sound, but I was grateful and I still am. How many times are we thankful for the ability to breathe without an oxygen mask; use the restroom unaided, and fall asleep when we feel like? Are you thankful that you don't scavenge nearby dumpster in search of food?

 Beloved, that we can make comprehensive statements, communicate with those around and are able to do so many "seemingly" simple things are miracles. And everyday, we ought to be grateful for each blessing. Appreciation is a key that unlocks the door to blessings. We should appreciative every single act of kindness.

Injustice and Curses

Wisdom Nugget: He has told you, O man, what is good; and what is required of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your Maker?             

Scale of Justice

All through the book you will notice that "The fatherless and widows" come under the same omnibus and are always grouped together. Literally, "the fatherless" means those without fathers and "the widows", those without husbands. But the spirit of the text goes beyond that simplistic application. They both represent people who are defenseless,. helpless, vulnerable and with no one to fight for them.

In most cultures in my country, when a father dies and his children are not of age, relatives take away all of the father's assets from you, everything. As for the widow, she is only a piece of property bought by the husband while he was alive. At his death, all her husband's properties are seized, she is subjected to demonic rituals like drinking the water derived from the washing of the corpse, shaved and must not leave the solitude, confinement and darkness of the room she shared with the husband for several months. When she finishes with the mourning rites, the house would have been swept, her; children, reduced to housemaids and everything her husband labored for would have disappeared. Often, young widows are forcibly remarried to one of the deceased's kinsmen; or contend with being raped as a matter of right. And sometimes, she may have to sleep with those who are to pay her late husband's gratuities.

Once there was a young girl who went to her late father's colleagues for assistance for her school fees. This man whom she called uncle, gave her a condition: she was requird to sleep with him before he would offer her any assistance. What these  traditionalists don't know is that these cultures bring great curses upon our communities . When the bitter tears of these fatherless girls and poor widows flow down their cheeks and fall to the ground, a lamentation against the land is raised. And a curse is invoked upon the people.

As Job put it : "But maybe you sent widows away without giving them anything.And maybe you took advantage of orphans. That is why traps are all around you,and sudden trouble makes you afraid. That is why it is so dark you cannot see,and why a flood of water covers you."

Have you ever wondered why many of our communities are so blessed in natural resources but the people are still poor ? Foreigners come in and prosper but the owners of the land are blind and in darkness and can't see the opportunities and for centuries the flood of poverty covers the indigenous people. Violence against women, rapes, mutilation of the female genitals are only a few of the evils that are responsible for the downward spirals of our economy and the violence and fears that we live with daily.

"...maker of the fatherless, and judge of the widows...will bless a people who respect the right of orphans and widows and vice versa."

 “If you listen to what I say, you will get the good things from this land. But if you refuse to listen and rebel against me, your enemies will destroy you.'... She was a faithful city. What made her become like a prostitute? In the past, the city... was filled with justice, and goodness... Instead, there are murderers. Once you were like pure silver, but now you are like the impurities that people throw away when the silver is purified. You are like good wine that has been weakened with water. Your rulers are rebels and friends of thieves. They demand bribes and accept money for doing wrong. They take money to cheat people, and they don’t speak up for widows and orphans. They will not even listen to their cries for help."

Another sage says, “You must never do anything bad to women whose husbands are dead or to orphans. If you do anything wrong to these widows or orphans, Their Maker will know it; will hear about their suffering; and will be very angry...

Conclude with Imelda Marcos words: "Continuous persecution of widows and orphans is a crime. Even the Bible says there is a specific place in hell for those who oppress widows."

Picture credit: fabiusmaximus.com

The Curse Of Injustice II

Wisdom Nugget: To trick a blind man into going the wrong way is to attract a curse.

A curse is an invocation of a supernatural power  to afflict or injure grievously; to harass or torment, to inflict serious harm or punishment on someone or to cause misfortune, evil, doom or unhappiness etc to  befall a person, group.

In the noun, to be blind means "People who are unable to see."

But in the verb it means "to Cause (someone) to be unable to see, permanently or temporarily: eg "eyes blinded with tears".

Life always brings us in contact with people who are temporarily blind , due to a situation they have found themselves in. The young girl who is in a relationship crisis; the fresh graduate who badly needs the job but must sleep with someone; the student (as a lecturer) who is struggling to pass your course and can't figure out why she keeps failing it; the young man in mid life crisis who comes to you for answers to 101 Questions of life; the young student who is confused about which career path to follow or who cannot figure out where the next school fee will come from; your congregant (as a pastor or religious leader) who looks up to you as God's representative; your subordinate in the office who regards you as their father or elder brother, depending absolutely on your (in)sight to make it to the top some day; and finally, your patient whose nakedness is only known to you and her husband. These people are blind, confused, defenseless and vulnerable before you.

Oftentimes, you hold in your hands the power to either make or destroy them, either help them or abuse them, either love them or lust after them, either tell them the truth or mislead them, either cover their nakedness or take advantage of their vulnerability, either be their stepping stone or stumbling block, either be their father or their sugar daddy and to either be their mentor or tormentor. The choice is yours to either be their hero or their villain but whatever is your choice they will remember you either for fame or for shame, either for the problems you solved for them or the ones you created for them. And we have enough history to show that those blind people you tricked into going the wrong way, sometime in the past, always have a bad habit of showing up somewhere at the crossroad of your future/destiny, just when you are about to be crowned, and spoiling your party. If you doubt, ask Anthony Weiner, John Edwards, Eliot Spitzer, Barney Frank, Larry Craig, Kwame Kilpatrick, Senator David Vitter, John Ensign,Mark Sanford.

US President Thomas Jefferson (1802): was accused of fathering the children of his slave, US President Grover Cleveland (1884): had sexual relationships with a number of men; US President Warren Harding (1921-1923): had extramarital affairs with two women; US President John F. Kennedy (1963) was linked to a number of extramarital affairs;
US President Bill Clinton (1998): Monica Lewinsky had oral sex with Clinton in the Oval Office; Jacob Zuma (2005-2006): was charged with rape before becoming President of South Africa
Ramzan Kadyrov, Prime Minister of the Chechen Republic (2006): appears in a sauna sex party video; Silvio Berlusconi, Italy’s Prime Minister (2011): paid for sex with a minor on a bunga bunga party and has just been sentenced to imprisonment for other of fences. Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor of California (2011): had fathered his housekeeper’s son, now aged 15 and Dominique Strauss-Kahn, Head of the IMF (2011): charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of a housekeeper was disqualified from participating in the French Presidential elections.

To trick a blind man into going the wrong way is to attract a curse. To you who feel the pain of injustice, this is my advice : "The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly." -Richard Bach

Photo credit: disputeabout.eu

The Curse Of Injustice

Wisdom Nuggets: The mark of your ignorance is the depth of your belief in injustice and tragedy. What the caterpillar calls the end of the world, the Master calls the butterfly.

                                                                                                          -  Richard Bach

confident injustice

In the next couple of days I shall be drawing your attention to an explosive truth which many in this generation either do not know or ignore. It is called The Curse of Injustice. Many are aware of The Power of Blessings. That is why in the US you hear people say "God Bless America". But what is equally potent is the power of a curse provoked by injustice.

Understanding the complexities of human existence in all ramifications; acknowledging the inevitability of our defenselessness and vulnerablilities can help us understand the inherent dangers of injustice. There exist designed laws which make it obligatory for the strong to protect the weak, the informed to protect the ignorant and the powerful to protect the defenseless. To violate that law is to attract a curse (Cursed be anyone who perverts the justice due to the foreigner...)

In 2009,  I sat next to a young man from Miami Florida to Haiti, on board an American Airways flight, and we naturally became friendly. It was my first trip to Haiti and it was soon after the earthquake. I was on a fact finding mission to see how my country could assist Haiti. So I was quick to befriend the young man so I could find my bearing when I arrived Port au Prince. On arrival, we drove around. I was shocked at the sorry state of Port au Prince, many months after the earthquake. Corpses were still trapped under the rubbles, collapsed buildIngs still leaned against one another, people still lived under the UN refugee tents and hunger was endemic. My Haitian friend had told me even the eggs sold in Haiti were from the nearby Dominican Republic. Turning to him, i told him i needed to change some dollars so I could take care of my hotel bills and other miscellaneous expenses. So he drove me to a dirty street, asked me to wait in the car, called a friend with whom he disappeared for a while. When he returned, he told me that the exchange rate was 1$ =30 Haitian Gourde. I was so shocked because I realized how poor the country was and I couldn't reconcile it with the high value on their currency. But I felt I was in the protective custody of my new found host and thus, couldn't dare question his facts (and figures). After all, his wife had joined us. They both communicated in Creole and I couldn't understand a word of what was said. I exchanged about $700 (because he had insisted I must take him and his wife to the most expensive restaurant in Port au Prince). Then I got to my hotel and asked the receptionist who told me the rate was $1= 35,000 Haitian Gourde. Next day my friend insisted that I paid him $500 dollars for taking me around in his car for half a day. As I boarded my flight to leave Haiti the next day I said to myself, "Now I understand why they are so poor !"

We're all defenseless foreIgners. The new staff in your office, the new girl or family in your neighborhood, the new student in your class, the new member in your church/club, the new entrant into your line of business, and the new wife your brother just married into your family, without exception, are all vulnerable and defenseless foreigners whom the fates have brought across your path. Before you take advantage of them remember the words of Plato, "He who commits injustice is ever made more wretched than he who suffers it."

 Don't  ever forget, the wheel of injustice always spins around. Today it is someone else, tomorrow it may be you. Whatever a man sows, that he will reap.

Photo Credit: johncalvinmusic.bandcamp.com

Love Is Never Happy With Injustice

Fighting Injustice

Wisdom Nugget :  “You must be fair in judgment. You must not show special favor to the poor. And you must not show special favor to important people. You must be fair when you judge your neighbor. You must not go around spreading false stories against other people. Don’t do anything that would put your neighbor’s life in danger... “You must be fair when you judge people, and you must be fair when you measure and weigh things. Your baskets should be the right size. Your jars should hold the right amount of liquids. Your weights and balances should weigh things correctly..."

Today, permit me to demystify and simplify injustice.

When Mrs Potiphar falsely accused Joseph of attempted tape and without trial, he was thrown into prison, that was an injustice.

When Samuel’s sons Joel and Abijah, refused to follow their father's footsteps but  accepted bribes and took money secretly and changed their decisions in court and cheated people in court, that was injustice.

When Jezebel got some area boys to testify against Naboth in court and thereupon had him executed so her husband could acquire Naboth's family land, that was injustice.

"... we pushed Justice away.Fairness stands off in the distance.Truth has fallen in the streets.Goodness is not allowed in the city..." This is another face of injustice.

When against all known rules of natural justice, equity and good conscience, innocent people are convicted, that is injustice.

Unfortunately injustice is real and happens everyday. As St. Augustine advised, "If you are suffering from a bad man's injustice, forgive him lest there be two bad men." Only love can transform calculated  injustice into creative justice. Love makes justice just. Justice without love is always injustice.

 We may seem now to be surrounded by chaos -- war, disease, injustice, oppression, death. But we can rise above these societal ills. Things are not what they seem to be. It is only a matter of time until it becomes clear to all that we are more than conquerors.

Hate injustice but be careful never to hate the perpetuators of injustice.

 Let's end with this quote by, Moore, Olive: "Hatred is a passion requiring one hundred times the energy of love. Keep it for a cause, not an individual. Keep it for intolerance, injustice, stupidity. For hatred is the strength of the sensitive. Its power and its greatness depend on the selflessness of its use."

Photo credit: thecrazylady.wordpress.com

Love Detests Injustice

Wisdom Nuggets: Love is never happy with injustice,...it is happy with the truth.


Dr. Martin Luther King's Words on Injustice

The two pillars of any genuine civilization, the two pillars of the happiest and most prosperous nations on earth, the two pillars of any great lasting and exciting relationship or marriage and the two pillars of any great organization and government are  RIGHTEOUSNESS & JUSTICE.

While righteousness means "doing what is right at all times", Justice implies "rewarding good and punishing evil". Anything short of these and society would be  brutish, cruel, animalistic and poverty-stricken. On these two pillars, you can draw the line between the world's wealthiest nations and poorest nations.

Lucius Annaeus Seneca said " A kingdom founded on injustice never lasts." I still remember the day I vowed that I was going to become a lawyer. Someone had just been falsely accused and she was crying because she'd been innocent. Nobody believed her, but me. I concluded that the world was filled with this kind of injustice and that somebody needed to fight for the innocent. Injustice is rigging an election and stealing the people's mandate; injustice is denying a widow and her little children of their late husband's and father's property; injustice is promising to marry a lady only to abandon her later for her best friend. Now, you aren't just expected to desist from unjust acts, "Don't even rejoice with those who did it".

Martin Luther King, Jr.said: "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
Desmond Tutu wrote "If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality".

Elie Wiesel postulated "There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest." I am convinced that "A just war is in the long run far better for a nation's soul than the most prosperous peace obtained by acquiescence in wrong or injustice."Henry David Thoreau said "If the machine of government is of such a nature that it requires you to be the agent of injustice to another, then, I say, break the law." That was what the Egyptian midwives Shiphrah and Puah did when asked to kill innocent kids and they were blessed for disobeying the government.

Where is the justice today? I fear for how insensitive, uncaring and lethargic we have become in the face of injustice. These days people loot valuables from their work places and pay heavy tithes, It's sad that we have stopped our ears from hearing the cry of the oppressed, the poor and the widows so that we even stoop so low as to celebrate the perpetuators of these injustices.

In Germany during World War II there was a Protestant church which stood near some railroad tracks. These tracks often carried Jewish families on their way to Nazi concentration camps for extermination. The cries for help and justice were sometimes so loud and disturbing especially as the congregation worshipped. The solution was a call for the congregation to sing louder so the cries wouldn’t be heard.

How many times have we tuned up our worship music, or stuck our noses deeper in the hymnal so we can pretend not to be aware of the injustices that abound around us?

Henry David Thoreau wrote "Justice is sweet and musical; but injustice is harsh and discordant". Truth is, evil thrives because good men do nothing.

Why You Must Forgive Yourself

Wisdom Nuggets: "We achieve inner health only through forgiveness - the forgiveness not only of others but also of ourselves." - Joshua Loth Liebman

Don't hide from your feelings

It's important to deal with this issue of unwarranted sense of guilt, which  many people struggle with. This is not talking about guilt which occurs as a result of un-confessed wrongs; but the feeling of guilt which continues to trouble us even after all has been forgiven and forgotten.

Feelings of guilt experienced as a result of un-confessed sin in our lives is a proper response. This guilt may, sometimes, linger for a while as a consequence of a grieving conscience, and that is a proper guilt. To ignore this kind of guilt is as dangerous as harbouring unforgiveness against yourself.
Guilt is a form of guard (or guage) for the conscience. But we must assume that we should be deprived of the freedom of forgiveness. Holding unto feeling of bitterness (and unforgiveness) can deprive us of peace of mind.

A woman told a story about her inability to forgive herself, when she fell ill. Her story begins thus: "When I was growing up with type I diabetes, I felt a sense of guilt as if somehow it was my fault. I reflected back on everything in my life that I had done wrong and immediately saw them as the reasons for my ill-health ...I'd also made some choices in life which proved to be wrong. Again, I laid carried the pain of guilt around. In times as this we tend to hold ourselves to harsher judgment than we do others. Suddenly those little things we did, which seemed so small, would  gloom and brighten the blemishes on our lives, so tha we see them as unforgivable. These emotions can quickly snowball into a mess of trouble as they did for me. Suddenly I viewed everything and everyone I touched as if they were my victims. I reached a point where I had little joy left deep inside of myself because all I could understand through the fog was that I was ruining all the hopes and dreams of those I loved, even though that was not true. I felt as if I had single-handedly ruined the lives of my siblings, husband and children solely because I was ill or because of the wrong choices I had made in my life.

Similar feelings of guilt can be experienced by someone who loses a family member to death. All they can think of is "What if I had done...?", "If only I had been there..." or "I wish I had told them...." With time i came to understand that i wasn't being fair to myself and that i needed to forget about the past, so i worked harder towards forgiving myself. Blaming yourself after an event must have occurred (and after you've obtained forgiveness)  is very wrong. You shouldn't. In as much as you have forgiven those who've wronged you, you must also forgive yourself. Don't blame yourself; and quit taking those guilt-trips down memory lane. What's to be gained from blaming ourselves for things we had no control over? The most compassionate thing you can do for yourself and others is to forgive yourself.

An unknown sage once said: "You can't undo anything you've already done, but you can face it. You can tell the truth. You can seek forgiveness. And let God do the rest."

According to Jane Fonda, "The people who did you wrong or who didn't quite know how to show up, you forgive them. And forgiving them allows you to forgive yourself too"

Photo credit: wikihow.com

Dealing With Guilt And Forgiving Yourself

Wisdom Nuggets: “I have learned, that the person I have to ask for forgiveness from the most is: myself. You must love yourself. You have to forgive yourself, everyday, whenever you remember a shortcoming, a flaw, you have to tell yourself "That's just fine". You have to forgive yourself so much, until you don't even see those things anymore. Because that's what love is like.”

                                                                                                              -C. JoyBell C

Forgiving Yourself

Larry Sorensen lives in Lake Wobegon. He'd been saved a dozen times at the altar of a Lutheran church that never gave altar calls. He would come to the altar time after time and weep buckets and buckets of tears and come back the next Sunday and do the very same thing. Larry Sorensen kept repenting and repenting; but somehow, he couldn’t get beyond the repenting stage. Pretty soon even the “fundamentalists got tired of him.” Larry couldn’t believe that he could totally be forgive him. The guilt of all he had done eroded his will to forgive himself. Instead of being free to move on, he came to church week after week constantly feeling guilty and trying to get back on track over and over again.

Have you ever heard this quote: “You cannot give what you do not have”?

It is worthy of note that people cannot give something they do not have. Someone once said, “forgiveness is something you do, not for the other person, but for yourself”. How can you forgive others when you cannot forgive yourself?

We might have gotten involved in some shameful (or dreadful things) in the past. There are things that we are unable to forgive ourselves for, so that we cannot even expect to receive forgiveness from people we've offended. We harbour feelings of guilt for mistakes made in our past and we allow them taunt us, even after we have prayed. We must  stop crucifying ourselves for nothing. Truly, it is useless to worry about past deeds because they cannot be undone. All we can do is ask for forgiveness (make restitutions were needed), forgive on our parts and let things go.

Bill Cosby said “People can be more forgiving than you can imagine. But you have to forgive yourself. Let go of what's bitter and move on.” 

 The ball is in your court. Forgive yourself.

Picture credit: aflourishinglife.com

Battling With Guilt? Forgive Yourself

Picture Credit: lostandtired.com

If our hearts condemn us, we know that God is greater than our hearts, and he knows everything.”

Whenever you look within, you hate yourself. You could kick yourself over and over for your past failures and choices. You've repented of your past mistakes, but you haven’t accepted the truth that all has been forgiven. You still feel ashamed and guilty about your past and you keep holding it against yourself.

 Untangle yourself from these feelings of guilt and condemnation. You need to forgive yourself. Not even an exorcism can redeem you. Unwillingness to forgive oneself deprives that person's heart of true joy and liberation.

Mr. Barwick, had a serious and painful circulation problem in his leg but rejected the recommended amputation. As the pain grew worse, Barwick grew bitter. "I hate it! I hate it!" he would mutter about the leg. At last he relented and told the doctor, "I can’t stand it anymore. I’m through with that leg. Take it off. Surgery was scheduled immediately. Before the operation, however, Barwick asked the doctor, "What do you do with legs after they’re removed?" We may take a biopsy or explore them a bit, but afterwards we incinerate them" , the doctor replied. Barwick proceeded with a bizarre request: "I would like you to preserve my leg in a pickling jar. I will install it on my mantle shelf. Then, as I sit in my armchair, I will taunt that leg, “Hah! You can’t hurt me anymore!’" Ultimately, he got his wish. But the despised leg had the last laugh. Barwick suffered phantom limb pain of the worst degree. The wound healed, but he could feel the torturous pressure of the swelling as the muscles cramped, and he had no prospect of relief. He had hated the leg with such intensity that the pain had unaccountably lodged permanently in his brain.

This provides wonderful insight into the phenomenon of false guilt. People can be obsessed by the memory of some sin committed years ago. It never leaves them, crippling their ministry, their devotional life, and their relationships with others. They live in fear that someone will discover their past. They go out of their way to prove to everyone that they have truly repented. They erect barriers against the enveloping, loving grace around them. Unless they experience the truth in this text which stresses the importance of forgiving oneself, they become as pitiful as poor Mr. Barwick, shaking a fist in fury at the pickled leg on the mantle. Imagine the pain and loneliness you feel when you despise yourself.

 As American writer, Mark Twain, puts it, “The worst loneliness is to not be comfortable with yourself.”

Life is a gift. And the recipient of a gift ought to receive it gladly and with joy.If the recipient receives the gift, but ignores it, the giver is mocked, belittled and feels unappreciated.

When we fail to forgive ourselves, we are like a child who is given a trip to Disney World for Christmas, yet keeps complaining that he can't go, even after his parents have already pulled the car out of the driveway and are waiting on him to get in! How would you feel if you were that child's parents? Wouldn't you feel terrible, knowing that you spent all that money on this trip: the tickets, the hotel reservations, etc.,And if your child rejects the gift because he doubts its (the gift's) reality? 

 Make up your mind today to forget the past so you can live in the fullness of your present. It's time to move forward.

What Unforgiveness Does

Picture Credit: atoast2wealth.com

Wisdom Nugget : "...if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then you...will also (be) forgiven your wrongs. But if you don’t forgive others, you will not (be) forgiven the wrongs you do.

One very interesting fact of life is this: no matter your status, you will be liable to hurt (pain). I used to think as a child that when I grew up and became really big, no one would have the guts to hurt me
Later, I came to realize that the most attacked and criticized people in the world were very influential folks such as presidents, political leaders etc.

So let's begin with the sayings "You can't escape being hurt by people"; and "the higher you go, the hotter it becomes." If any President decides to take personal the number of critics that attack them all across the media on a daily basis, they would go paranoid, loose their minds and abandon the business of government. To concentrate on your opposition is to loose your position. So get ready as the tree, if you don't want people to throw stones at you, then don't bear fruits. And if you don't want to get hurt, be a nobody. But even then, someone is going to ask you soon, "how come you are a nobody when all your mates are somebody?"

If great leaders often get criticized, you will. So for your own physical, emotional and spiritual well-being learn the art of forgiveness and live your life to the full (but be purposeful and fulfilled).
Forgiveness: what does it mean?

Forgiveness is a decision to let go of resentment and thoughts of revenge. The act that hurt or offended you might leave an indelible scar that'll last the rest of your life, but forgiveness can lessen its grip on you and help you focus on other, positive sides of life. Forgiveness can even lead to feelings of understanding, empathy and compassion for the one who hurt you.
Forgiveness doesn't mean that you deny the other person's responsibility for hurting you, and it doesn't minimize or justify the wrong. You can forgive the person without excusing the act.

Forgiveness brings a kind of peace that helps you go on with life.

What are the benefits of forgiving someone?

According to Mayo Clinic, letting go of grudges and bitterness can make way for compassion, kindness and peace. Forgiveness can lead to: healthier relationships, greater spiritual and psychological well-being, less anxiety, stress and hostility. It also helps to lower blood pressure and to reduce symptoms of depression and to lower risks of alcohol and substance abuse.

What are the effects of holding a grudge?

If you're unforgiving, you might pay the price repeatedly by dragging anger and bitterness on your life's journey including new relationships. Your life might become so wrapped up in past injustices that you rob yourself of current pleasures.

You might become depressed or anxious. You might feel that your life lacks meaning or purpose, or that you're at odds with your conscience. You might lose valuable and enriching connectedness with others. Finally, you expose yourself to illnesses as cancer, tumors, stroke and other deadly (mostly heart-related) diseases.

There was a garden party for the women’s auxiliary, under an old oak, in a church lawn. Shortly before the party began, Mrs. Preacher discovered she'd left Sister Hissyfit off the invitation list.
The parson called the dear sister and begged forgiveness. "I’m so sorry we didn’t catch this sooner, Mrs. Hissyfit, won’t you please come to the garden party?" pled the pastor.
"Beggin’ won’t help now, Preacher," said the offended Mrs. H., I’ve already prayed for rain

Love Doesn't Remember Transgressions Done Against It

Wisdom Nugget : "...if you forgive others for the wrongs they do to you, then you...will also (be) forgiven your wrongs. But if you don’t forgive others, you will not (be) forgiven the wrongs you do.

Picture Credit: psychologytoday.com

Thomas Fuller said "He that cannot forgive others breaks the bridge over which he must pass himself; for every man has need to be forgiven."

As difficult as forgiveness might seem, it is for your own benefit, I have discovered that forgiveness is easier when i focus on "my own need for forgiveness", on a daily basis. Now, by human standards, I consider myself as decent and civil, but if as good as I am, I still need this amount of forgiveness daily, then I submit that any relationship, family, organization or community that does not make provision for plenty of forgiveness is brutish, barbaric and cruel.

 In "The Christian Leader," Don Ratzlaff retells a story. Vernon Grounds came across in Ernest Gordon's Miracle on the River Kwai. The Scottish soldiers, forced by their Japanese captors to labor on a jungle railroad, had degenerated into barbarous behavior, but one afternoon something happened. A shovel was missing. The officer in charge became enraged. He demanded that the missing shovel be produced, or else... When nobody in the squadron budged, the officer got his gun and threatened to kill them all on the spot . . . It was obvious the officer meant what he had said. Finally, one man stepped forward. The officer put away his gun, picked up a shovel, and beat the man to death. When it was over, the survivors picked up the bloody corpse and carried it with them to the second tool check. This time, no shovel was missing. Indeed, there had been a miscount at the first check point. The word spread like wildfire through the whole camp. An innocent man had been willing to die to save the others! . . . The incident had a profound effect. . . The men began to treat each other like brothers. When the victorious Allies swept in, the survivors, human skeletons, lined up in front of their captors (and instead of attacking their captors) insisted: "No more hatred. No more killing. Now what we need is forgiveness." Sacrificial love has transforming power.

If our marriages will work, if our houses will be homes, if our streets will be safer, if our communities will be inhabitable again, then we must both embrace and dispense forgiveness. Remember, "if you don’t forgive others, then you will not be forgiven the wrongs that you do."

Love Keeps No Score Of Wrongs

Wisdom Nugget :"...Love does not remember wrongs done against it."



Picture Credit: healthyforgiving.com

The word "offense" was coined from the Greek word "skandalizein", and the Latin word "scandalum" from where the word "Scandal" originated.
The word was used to describe  "a mouse  trap with a springing device" especially the part with the spring that usually traps the mouse once it goes off. It was usually said to have "OFF" "ENDED" (i.e. severed the head of the mouse from the body) . In the New Testament, it was used metaphorically as "a stumbling block, offense or snare laid for an enemy." Nothing could be farther from the truth. An offense or a grudge is a spiritually scandalous thing. It spreads negative information (scandal )about you in the enemy's camp and alerts them that you are GUILTY, and consequently, you are vulnerable and defenseless, and if you still do not forgive, it OFF - ENDS your destiny.

Hannah More once wrote : "Forgiveness is the economy of the heart... forgiveness saves the expense of anger, the cost of hatred, the waste of spirits".

Ron Rose was preparing for a sermon in his office when a woman walked in to complain abouthow  Ron's sermons were always about forgiveness and grace. She said he needed to come down harder on the sinners, and in her words, "nail them."
After her rant, Ron asked, "So, you’ve got forgiveness and grace all worked out in your own life?"
"Well, Ron" she replied, "there are some things you can’t turn loose of, things that don’t deserve grace, or forgiveness. That’s just the way it is. I know it’s that way in my family."
She leaned over his desk and revealed a heart hardened by resentment and bitterness, "No, forgiveness is not an option. I’ve been hurt too much."
The grudge was too embedded. And she was powerless and trapped in the wilderness. Lack of forgiveness had turned her into a critical, judgmental woman.

Ron went on to say "She wanted me to make everyone else as miserable as she was."

A teacher once told each of her students to bring a clear plastic bag and a sack of potatoes to school. They were instructed to call to mind every person they had a grudge against. For every person they refused to forgive, they chose a potato, wrote on it the name and date, and put it in the plastic bag. They were told to carry this bag with them everywhere, putting it beside their bed at night, on the car seat when driving, on their lap when riding, next to their desk during classes. Some bags became quite heavy. Lugging this around, paying attention to it all the time, and remembering not to leave it in embarrassing places was a hassle. Over time the potatoes became moldy, smelly, and began to sprout "eyes." To bear grudges is to stink.

Often we think of forgiveness as a gift to the other person, but it clearly is a gift to ourselves.
To forgive is to set a prisoner free only to discover that that prisoner was you.

LOVE KEEPS NO SCORE OF THE SINS OF OTHERS

LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS DONE

Picture credit: alldatmatas.blogspot.com

Wisdom Nugget :"...Love keeps no record of being wronged."

 Love doesn't keep score of the wrongs of others. Love thinks no evil and it takes no account of the evil done to it; it pays no attention to a suffered wrong.

As long as you are in love or in any relationship which requires you to show some measure of love (and/or respect) to another person, you will be wronged; there will be unpleasant experiences in your dealings with the other party. Whether or not these wrongs are done intentionally or unintentionally, do not keep records. As you forgive, delete and format from the system so that the information cannot be retrieved (when badly needed for evidence) . Do not remember the wrongs done against you by your partner. This is not just an opinion; it is a law of nature. Something in the filing cabinet of the human spirit rejects files containing toxic materials such as offenses and wrongs done, and anytime you forcefully store those files they start manifest themselves in the physical through such  medical abnormalities as cancerous growths. Arguably, this is one of  the reasons why this generation has an astronomical increase in cases of cancer even in young adults.

It was H. Jackson Brown, Jr. who said "Never forget the three powerful resources you always have available to you: love, prayer, and forgiveness." Forgiving and forgetting are imperative to your well-being.

Writing a treatise on forgiveness,  Henry Ward Beecher said "I can forgive, but I cannot forget, is only another way of saying, I will not forgive. Forgiveness ought to be like a cancelled note - torn in two, and burned up, so that it never can be shown against one."
There was a widow who had “Rest In Peace” put on her husband’s tombstone.
When she found out that he left her out of his will, she had added, “TILL I COME.”
If truth be told, forgiveness is not easy. Mahatma Gandhi said "The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong."

At a convention with their wives, two businessmen who had been roommates in college crossed paths. They sat in the lobby all night talking. They knew they would be in trouble with their wives. The next day, they happened to see each other.
"What did your wife think?"
"I walked in the door and my wife got historical."
"Don’t you mean hysterical?"
"No, historical. She told me everything I ever did wrong."

TRUE LOVE KEEPS NO RECORD OF WRONGS DONE AGAINST IT !