"Umbly" is an annoying word...

But I'm not writing to complain. I'm here to share with you something that was shared with me in my Interpersonal Communications class. This devotional gave me a unique look at humility and how it can be taken too far or used as a cop-out.

"This devotional really speaks to our comparison to others and the effect it has on our self-concept. I hope it makes you think/pray about how God sees you -- not how you compare to others. On the Journey Toward Humility by Larry Gillick Uriah Heep, in David Copperfield, keeps repeating that he’s an “Umble man”. He turns out to be anything but humble. He uses that mask to achieve selfish ends. Humble comes from the Latin word for dirt or earth’s soil. Being humble has something to do with being as simple and honest and dignified as the soil. It is what it is and nothing more or less. By contrast, inferiority is an excuse, or a self-diminishment resulting from “compare-a-sinning”. If we are frightened of entering into the adventure of the new or the unfamiliar, we can excuse ourselves by “umbly” assuming the mask of not being adequate. The sin of comparing ourselves with others will keep us always under the umbrella of sad safety. In this lifestyle we judge the gifts of others as better than anything we might have. We also live in fear of others judging us in the same negative manner. The sin of this comparing is that we end up denying that we have anything good at all. We also prevent ourselves being gifts in the lives of anybody else. We are of the earth, but not defined totally by the earth. Humility is the peaceful state of honest acceptance of how my earthliness can give growth to others. Pride has to do with creating ourselves. We walk the road to humility with our feet on the earth and our identities given us by the Creator – who sees everything as good and humans as very good."

This taught me that if you always compare yourself to everyone else and what they can do, you are failing yourself and the people around you. Everyone has strengths, and everyone has weaknesses. It's important to recognize your own strengths and use them to the best of your ability. When you focus on what you can't do or what you wish you could do, instead of what you excel at, you're letting yourself and those around you down. I tried to find a link to Kevin Max's song Be, but it seems non-existent. I thought it fit well with this post though. (Even though 50% of my subscribers find him annoying.)

I wish I could live where the sea meets the land...

Nothing to really say right now... but here's three songs.

History can't be undone...

Last Sunday I sat through a sermon titled The Good, the Bad, and the Saved. I guess it was a fairly simple sermon, but it's something that has really stuck with me. Paul's view was used several times throughout this. First for when he was "at his best." "...If someone else thinks they have reasons to put confidence in the flesh, I have more: circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; in regard to the law, a Pharisee; as for zeal, persecuting the church; as for righteousness based on the law, faultless." -Philippians 3:4-6. Paul is also shown "at his worst." "Here is a trustworthy saying that deserves full acceptance: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners—of whom I am the worst. But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life." -1 Timothy 1:15-16. Paul is saying that he has been at the very top and also the very bottom. If salvation could be earned through works and the law, he would have it. He also realizes, however, that even when he was at his worst, he could still be saved. Letting go of the past can be really hard, but it's not worth holding on to when all it is is dead weight you force yourself to drag around. A line I liked from the sermon was, "Don't hold on to what God has let go and forgotten."
“Come now, let us settle the matter,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow;  though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. -Isaiah 1:18
"You will again have compassion on us; you will tread our sins underfoot and hurl all our iniquities into the depths of the sea." -Micah 7:19
"...[A]s far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our transgressions from us." -Psalm 103:12
 ♪History can't be undone, but it can be erased.♫

Black+White=Grey

Welcome to the first blog post of yours truly. Thank you for coming. You may be seated.

This post is inspired by lyrics from Everything & Nothing by The Classic Crime. I've been meaning to post something eventually but couldn't think of anything worthwhile. But this is something that worked its way out of my cerebrum tonight, and it seems good enough for sharing.

♪Everything is dark inside the whitest lie. When you take the truth in every half truth, you take the grey over the black and white.♫ A lie is a lie. Half truth has truth in it. But it's not whole. As white and seemingly harmless as a lie can seem, it is still a lie. In reality it's black and distorts truth. You don't have the whole picture. If you take the truth in every half truth, you're not getting the whole thing. It becomes a blur and muddled and it's grey. It's tough to distinguish between the truth and the fiction.

♪Everything is white inside the blackest truth.♫ The truth can be ugly. It can be harsh and a tough pill to swallow. But it's the truth. It's reality. And ignoring it or twisting it doesn't change it or make it go away. It is what it is. But it's white. It's pure and it's honest and real. You can know what it is and see what you're really facing. Sometimes it really hurts. A lot. But you can see it for what it really is and deal with it as it needs to be. It's not always easy but it's real and it's what's right.