Numero Uno

It's difficult, isn't it?  We get mixed messages, and so it's hard to know....

On the one hand, we are consumers.  And so at least according to what I've always heard, "the customer is always right."  That means I'm entitled to good service, to a friendly "hello" and respectful treatment.  Just like everyone else with money to spend, I deserve to be treated with dignity.  If not, well then, I'll spend my money elsewhere!

On the other hand, I wonder.  If it's only those with money to spend who deserve to be treated with dignity and respect, that leaves out a growing number of people.  And I wonder what transformation might take place if those with no money were actually treated with dignity and respect, regardless of whether or not I think they deserve it.

On the one hand, it's all about the power of the consumer...and more power to us!  On the other hand, shouldn't it have something to do with what Jesus and the prophets called "loving our neighbor?"

I guess, in the end, it has to do with who we are listening to, and where our own hearts happen to be.

"For where your heart is, there your treasure will be too."

Have a terrific weekend!  If you like what you're reading, consider sharing it with others!  Connect them to Acorns via www.realacorns.blogspot.com.

Looks Good to Me!

What does God look like?  What (or whom?) do you think of when you think of God?

Have you ever noticed that when you think about God, most of the time you're thinking of yourself?  The character of God that comes to our minds is most often a reflection of ourselves.  So God thinks like we do and acts as we would and loves those we love and hates those we hate and, when push comes to shove, wouldn't you just know it...God is on OUR SIDE!

It is a challenge when we define God as some kind of unseen force or energy or entity or person who is the ultimate in benevolence, because it leaves us vulnerable.  With a God so clearly undefined, we're liable to impose on God whatever character or personality works for us, and God's limitless benevolence then becomes a mere reflection of our own limited self-love.  

So, what is the truth about God?  

The truth, or course, is that no one really knows--though I've a hunch there are those who've known, or at least come close to knowing.  To us they've left a legacy of assurance that no matter how certainly we believe that we have God all figured out, in that we are most certainly wrong.  They've also shown us that it is beyond our scope of duty to define God.  And if that leaves us all feeling a little uncomfortable, well, I suspect that's the point.  It keeps us on our toes.  It keeps us striving.  It forces us to step out from behind the protective walls of religion and into the light of reality.  

After all, there is one thing we do know of God...and that is that God isn't here to be figured out so much as to be experienced.

"No one has seen God."

Everlasting

It's not as if I did anything terribly strenuous.  In fact, this time I think I was just sitting there minding my own business when, suddenly, I felt it: that old familiar stabbing pain.  And just as suddenly I knew I was in for a long and painful two weeks.  That's just the way it goes--when it goes.

It's the little things.  Pick up that pencil?  Reach for the faucet?  Put on my socks?  Not without bracing myself for another spasm and that excruciating pain.

It's OK, though.  It gets better.  The Advil helps--and rest (easier said than done!). After a while, most folks get used to the wincing, the cloud of wintergreen, the constant excuses.  "Wish I could."  And usually, after a while, the muscles relax again, and eventually things go back to normal...at least they always have before. 

I wondered, though, this time.  What if they don't?  What if things don't go back to normal?  What if "normal" now means "in constant pain?"  It was almost a panic that washed over me--and then I was filled with sadness.  What kind of a life would that be?  Would I want to live it?

Chronic.  It means "lasting for a long period of time."  How many people live with things we call "chronic"?  How many live with constant invisible pain?  Emotional stress?  Mental illness?  How many live with a "normal" that is chronic and unbearable?

These days I find myself so grateful.  Not because "there but for the grace of God go I."  But because I've been given a new gift: to see that I don't always see--that I can't possibly know what burdens others may be bearing.  And all I can do is live out the call to see beyond my assumptions about them, to be a little less judgmental and a lot more helpful.

I hope it lasts...

"Bear one another's burdens."

  

Perfect Together!

That's what the ad in my in-box said: "Perfect Together."

It had little hearts all over it and was clearly geared toward the discerning Valentine's Day shopper.

But it stopped me dead in my tracks...because I suddenly realized that they were dead serious.  They really meant it: perfect together.

Thing is, it can't be true--can it?  Human relationships are never "perfect," at least not in the sense that everything is always wonderful and people never stop swooning and the floor never stops spinning and the stars never stop twinkling and our hearts never stop racing.  The reality of human relationships, as you well-know, is something else entirely.

What is true is that people are wonderful, and people are horrible--sometimes people smell like a bouquet of Valentine's Day roses, and sometimes they just stink.  And a "perfect" relationship isn't one that denies this reality, but embraces it...and keeps loving anyway.  You remember: "What credit is it to you if you love those who love you?"  Real love embraces the UNlovable...which is ALL of us--at least at one time or another.

Come to think of it, the ad may not have been that far off--because as long as the batteries are charged and my internet connection is in tact, my iPad and I really are "Perfect Together."  

It's just not much of a relationship, that's all.

With love to all for a Happy Valentine's Day!

Birthing Room

Strange things happen under the couch in our living room.  I really can't explain it, but it's like another world under there: a world I know little about...

Oh sure, every once in a blue moon some light is shed on that mysterious land.  Things get moved around for a little cleaning, maybe, or the beam of a flashlight sweeps across that barren, dusty plain as it searches for something dropped or misplaced.  But something tells me that when the light hits it the magic pauses...until my eyes turn away...and then it all begins again.

I have no proof, of course, only evidence: a beauty of a tabby, once a tiny orange kitten whose announcement--just a faint cry in the hustle and bustle--rose from that underworld to let us know he'd arrived.

And while I may never fully know what's going on in that land of mystery, as I go on fooling myself into believing only in that which I can see for myself, I sometimes wonder.  

Maybe there's more.  Maybe there's more.

"Now I see through a glass, darkly."

Here's an invitation--if you enjoy reading, share the good news.  Feel free to steer your family and friends here: help spread the word!

Bless You!

With cold and flu season upon us, chances are you're hearing the words with some frequency:

"Bless you!"

Some say that the practice of offering a blessing when someone sneezes is rooted in an ancient belief that a sneeze was the body's way of expelling evil spirits that were trying to work their way inside.  The blessing was offered as a prayer that those demons would be gone for good.  In a way they had it right, though these days we're more likely to call them "germs" rather than "demons."

Same difference.

It's all said rather casually, though, and that's what gets me wondering.  If we were to stop and think about what we were saying--if we were a bit more deliberate in not just spouting off but actually delivering on our hope and promise--the world might a better place.

So the next time I find myself saying it, I'm going to stop and think about it too.  How can I put my own words into action, and be a source of healing?  I've a hunch, in doing so, some of my own demons might just be gone too.

"Blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth."

The Whole Enchilada

Ever since the king of burgers told us that we could have it our way (OK, maybe even before that!) we've gotten a bit spoiled, don't you think?  It's really hard for us to accept those package deals...we want control over all the details.

"I like the color of THOSE and the style of THESE and the shape of THIS ONE..."

"I like THAT model, THIS year, THAT feature..."

"I'll take that one over there, but with THESE, and not THOSE...."

Options, options, options.  If we can't have it OUR way, well, we'll just head over to the Golden Arches, right?

We run into a bit of a problem, though, when we're dealing with people, don't we?  We may prefer certain features over others, and get a little frustrated (or worse!) when we have to take the package deal.  So I might enjoy my friend's good humor, for example, but when she needs to let off steam because her marriage is in a shambles, I'm no longer entertained.  You might like to be entertained by Uncle Harry's story-telling, but when he has one-too-many at the party (which happens more often than not...) you soon lose patience.  We're good with good listeners, until they want us to listen to them.

Can't we have the parts we like and leave the rest behind?

The answer is "yes....and no."

Yes, we can just enjoy the pieces of others we like and leave the rest behind.  But the consequence, for us and for them, is a fast-food diet of shallow relationships.  If we're willing to go deeper, though, and to accept people completely for who they are, we'll discover a deep, rich, complex blend of flavors and textures that is mutually nourishing and, in the end, far more satisfying....

It's the whole enchilada, which is probably what we've been craving all along--and maybe what we all really need.

"Love one another as I have loved you..."