Friday, November 18, 2016

Wisdom Pearl

Wisdom Pearl:

Don't Mortgage Today's Debt on Tomorrow's Earnings..

-sj

Perspective II

Don't you love a good cliff hanger???

No? Neither do I honestly..but it does keep me hungry for the continuation of a good read. When last we met we spoke of death and its gifts. I will not recant on that statement. Death does leave gifts it doesn't matter that we don't welcome them.

So far in my life time I have buried: my natural father; a son; uncle; grandfather; paternal grandmother; beautiful mother n law; an aunt and a host of friends along with warm acquaintances. Some separations Have just tore me up. I didn't care if I saw another sunrise...so great was the pain. But God!! He saw me through it all!

No matter the warning, sometimes through dreams or visions I am never prepared for the actual departure. I always try and guess who is leaving next based on age or health but I am always surprised..never pleasantly. Usually, after the initial shock of it all come the fond memories, loving thoughts and the best of all gifts perspective.

Think about it.. the thoughts of the deceased person, unless shared, dies with them. Their plans, fears, both the to-do and bucket list disappear. From dust we came and from the ground we will return. Man (human beings) is a living soul. Once the natural portion of that man ceases to function the soul lives on either in Glory (Heaven with the Lord) or Hell there is no in between. No purgatory and no do-overs (re-incarnation).

What is left is perspective. Perspective helps order priorities. Which in turn helps us govern our conduct that much better. Home-goings always make me treat my fellow man a little kinder. Why? Because whatever is going on with that person at the moment where we intersect I can make THE difference. I can choose to leave him/her with a good positive memory or I can add to their weight. If I knew that they only had hours left to walk the earth, would I fuss because they cut me off in traffic? Would I become impatient if they had 30 items in a 20 or less check out? Would I lend a hand to him when he seemed to be in a jam? Of course I would! You probably would too!

Sometimes perspective is adopted as a way of life; sometimes it is lost on the foolish.  Time always tells.

I choose to use the pain of my loss to remind myself that life is temporary. Daily we each get an opportunity to leave the world a little better than we found it. None of us can stay forever, but our deeds/;kindness, love, giving and selflessness or self-centered, selfish, mean, low, callous or bias will travel on long after we have departed.

This Holiday Season make it one that marks the begging of a new era of perspective! Use it as a platform to leave a positive and fruitful legacy! Something someone else can build off of and continue your good work.

Absent from the body means you are present with the Lord. I can't answer for you but I want Him, in my time of sunset, to welcome me into His kingdom. I want those who live beyond me to take what I have started and continue to pay-it forward so a whole new generation can be introduced to the God we serve via kind acts, thoughtful deeds and meaningful fulfillment of our tasks.

-sj

Wisdom Pearl

Wisdom Pearl:

Death,
Even when it is an expected visitor, seldom is it ever a welcomed guest...

-sj

Perspective I

Death is not a subject that most people would be comfortable speaking about. Matter of fact it is a topic of distaste or dread. One would expect a elderly citizen to speak candidly about death, final expenses, service arrangements and inheritances to their loved ones. Not to the parents of a critically ill newborn or a high school athelete at his/her prime. But death has no such boundaries as age or timing. It is its own entity.

Even if death is soon expected no one really feels prepared for it when it arrives. The very thought of having to deal with the loss and separation of a loved one (related or otherwise) truly is unnerving. However, it is a very real part of our existence. Everything has its time to die or to live; to be born or turn an age; just like the seasons every part of our lives has a silent order that we can neither control nor predict. We can only weather the course as our circumstances dictate.

We are quickly approaching the winter holiday season. For Christians (people who believe and worship Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior) it is a time for festivities, which often spread outwardly to different circles of people. So don't be surprised if all of a sudden a stranger may ask to pay for your morning cup of coffee..it could happen. Even though our calendar was adopted from the early Romans, the exact date of the birth of Christ is not known but we set aside December 25th every year as a day of remembrance and celebration that Christ came to earth to rescue all who will accept Him from sin and death. In this case death has a dual meaning the first is the natural death that 99.885% of us will face when our physical body is separated from the living soul that was housed within it; and secondly a spiritual death which is existence (short and tormented) without God. Those who choose not to accept Christ essential reject Him and He honors their choice. God does not send people to Hell. People send themselves.

I could base a dissertation on that alone but that is really not my point. My focus is solely on the physical death of a human being and the gifts that experience can bring. Yes I said gifts. Not all gifts are good nor desired but death leaves each of us, who have had the pleasure (sarcasm) of dealing with it, something we hadn't had before. Why would I bring up such a morbid topic on the eve of Holiday Season? Good question. Better answer...

-sj

Monday, November 7, 2016

wisdom pearl

It is not your job to make people listen...it is, however, your task to play the music.

-sj

In other words, be obedient to your cause and never worry about the outcome. Because the One who gave you the assignment is the One who will control the outcome

Seasons! Pt. 2

 Seasons! Pt. 2 Romans 8:28 says 28  And we know that in all things God works for the good  of those who love Him , who [ a ]  have been ca...