Yea, Though I Walk Through the Valley...

I'm currently "in the valley", if you will... We all love those mountaintop experiences, but the reality is that there isn't too much that grows up there. Growth happens in the valley. We may not like the valley, for though there is growth in the valley in growth there is pain, and we don't particularly like pain as a rule. On the mountaintop we can see for miles, we can see farther than tomorrow, but in the valley our view is obscured; we're forced to concentrate on that which is close around us...

So, I'm wallowing through one of those "valleys" life throws at us. I am lucky, in one respect, because God has allowed me to recognize when I get in one, and that in itself helps temper the low I tend to feel in these valleys of life. As a rule, when we experience an emotional high in life it will be invariably followed by a corresponding low. And, the higher the high the lower the following low. The longer the high, the longer the low. It's part of the emotional balance of our lives. Interestingly, if you recognize when you are on an emotional high and remember there will be a following low it tends to temper the height of the high, and consequently will temper the depths of the low. Recognizing when we're in a low can allow us to more readily recognize the growth we experience during this time, and this too, will temper the effects of the low and can make our walk through the valley much more palitable...

So I walk on, and try to remain open to that which God has for me to learn. Perhaps being more open is a good lesson to start with. Food for thought...

Thunderstorms...

It's raining tonight. Thunder, lightning, rain pounding off the house- it's been too long since it rained, and even longer since we've had a good thunderstorm. I've missed the thunderstorms... A lot of people don't care for rain, and even less for thunderstorms, but I love them. The sheer majesty, the raw power, and yes, even the danger are compelling to me, they draw me in and speak to that dark side of my soul that desires to give comfort, and companionship. It's almost like comfort and companionship are an affront to the storm, yet those are what my soul longs to give during the outrage of the storm...

It's these times, when I sit alone during the storm, that I miss a companion, someone to wrap my arms around, someone who wants to feel safe in the embrace of another... As the thunder rolls I look down at the end of the couch where Winston is curled up in a ball, sound asleep, no fear of the storm. Not even he needs me right now... I just can't catch a break...

To forgive and forget? I think not...

I was writing to a friend today when a thought crossed my mind that I felt compelled to share. Since I was a child I've heard people say, "Forgive and forget", we should forgive and forget the wrongs done to us. I'm considerably older now, (and I hope wiser than as a child), and I just can't help seeing the fallacy of this "ignoracio elenchi". We are wronged- we can forgive, but how do we forget?


I offer this to you- we shouldn't forget the wrongs done to us, nor the wrongs we do. But we should forgive and seek forgiveness for those wrongs. After that, the wrong should be treated like a corpse, a dead thing, that is buried and gone. That forgiven wrong isn't something to be brought up at a later date to be used in an argument, just as we wouldn't dig up a corpse when we recall a memory of them, rather it remains buried. We don't forget the dead one, but we don't dig them up for any reason what-so-ever...


How neat would it be if we treated wrongs this way? Instead of holding on to them, or bringing them up in anger during an argument, we leave them buried, forgiven but not forgotten, so we can learn from them and be relationally better in the future. Leaving them buried, but remembered, gives us a resource to be better people, because we remember and can learn from our mistakes... Food for thought...

Failure...

Today I failed, which is nothing new for me, for I'm always trying one thing or another. Failure is always an option when you're willing to try. Too often we don't experience life to its fullest because we're afraid of failure. There's not a darn thing wrong with failing; the wrong comes in when we allow it to defeat us. Failure is one of the greatest tools we have for building character, for developing endurance, for gaining appreciation for our victories. When we pick ourselves up after a failure and try again, and again, until we succeed, we develop that confidence in ourselves that we can and will conquer anything. Failing on the road to success builds our faith in ourselves, and ultimately our self-worth, and self-esteem. Yet fear of failure often keeps us on the sidelines, a spectator instead of a participant, living life vicariously through those with the courage to try what we will not. We see their success, and can, in some small measure, share it with them; however, they get the full rush from their victory, the full joy and satisfaction that only participating can bring... It was said that Thomas Edison failed over a thousand times before perfecting the incandescent lightbulb. When asked if he grew discouraged at all his failures he replied (to effect) that he didn't fail a thousand times- he discovered a thousand different ways not to build a lightbulb...

So I failed, and thought, "Back to the drawing board". Then a sobering thought hit me- what did people go back to before drawing boards were invented?