Beautiful song.
Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?NR=1&feature=endscreen&v=KBsCkZd-HU4
I was lost when ya found me here
You pulled me close and held me near
And I'm a fool but still you love
I'll be your fool for the king of love
He gave me wings so I could fly
And gave me a song to color the sky
And all I have is all from you
And all I want is all of you
It's grace, grace
I'm nothing without you
Grace, your grace
Shines on me
And there've been days when I've walked away
Too much to carry
Nothing left to say
Forgive me Lord when I'm weak and lost
You traded heaven for a wooden cross
And all these years you've carried me
You've been my eyes when I could not see
And beauty grows in the driving rain
Your ode of gladness in the times of pain
-Michael Smith
An observation after two ducks get into a fight. The fight never lasts long and they separate towards opposite direction. Then each will flap its wings vigorously few times, thus, releasing the surplus energy that built up during the fight.
After, they flap their wings and float off peacefully, as if nothing ever happened.
If the duck had a human mind, it would keep the fight alive by thinking, by story-making.
This would probably be the duck's story: "I don't believe what he just did. He came within five inches of me. He thinks he owns this pond. He has no consideration for my private space. I'll never trust him again. He annoys me. I'm sure he's plotting something already. But i'm not going to stand for this. I'll teach him a lesson he won't forget."
And on and on the mind spins its tales, still thinking and talking about it days, months or even years later.
As far as the body is concerned, the fight is still continuing, and energy it generates in response to all those thoughts is emotion, which in turn generates more thinking. This becomes the emotional thinking of the ego.
You can see how problematic the duck's life would be if it had a human mind.
But this is how most humans live all the time. No situations or events is ever really finished. The mind and mind-made "me and my story" keep it going.
We are species that has lost its way. Everything natural, flower, tree, animal have important lessons to teach us if we would only stop, look and listen.
Our duck's lesson is this: Flap your wings, which translate as "let go of the story" - and return to the only place of power: the present moment.
-E.Tolle
If you want to stop the conflicts in your life and get along with others, learn to ask forgiveness from God and from those you hurt.
James 4:8 says, “Wash your hands and purify your hearts”.
Our hands represent our conduct, and our hearts represent our attitude.
Paul is basically saying: Clean up your act. Be sorry for your self-centeredness.
It is a big deal when someone you care about is hurt. Take it seriously. If someone says you hurt him, then you did. It may not be a big deal to you, but it was to him. Be willing to ask forgiveness.
Think of the person who causes the most conflict in your life. Would you consider resolving the conflict with that person? Are you willing to apologize for your part? Maybe he or she is 95% at fault, but your responsibility is to take care of your 5% and let God handle the rest.
How humbling would it be for you to say, “I know we’ve had our differences and I haven’t always been thoughtful. A lot of times I’ve thought more about myself than your needs.”
It wouldn’t just be humbling; it would be impossible without God’s grace.
The only way you’re going to change is to be humble, and the only way to be humble is to ask forgiveness.
The first step is the hardest, but it’s also the most important. It’s humbling, sure, but God gives grace to the humble. Maybe this week you need to write a letter or make a call. Take the first step.
God doesn’t want to keep you down on the ground. James 4:10 says, “Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up.” The way to honor is humility.
I used to think the way to be honored by my wife and kids was to never admit that I was wrong. I figured if my kids thought I was wrong, they wouldn’t respect me any more. It wasn’t a surprise when I found out they already knew I wasn’t perfect. I found that the way I gained honor before my wife and kids was to admit I was wrong.
To be honored by your love ones and the Lord, you must humble yourself.
To stop the fighting, give in to God, get wise to Satan, grow closer to God, and be willing to ask forgiveness.
Talk About It
- Think of the last time you were the recipient of someone’s humble apology. What impact did it have on your relationship with that person and with the Lord?
- Is there someone you need to forgive today? Is there someone you need to go to and ask forgiveness?
- Do you believe that God can restore a relationship that you have given up on? What do you think he wants you to do to help make that happen?
-R. Warren
A woman in her 30's came to see me. As she greeted, I could sense the pain behind her polite smile. She started telling me her story and her smile changed into grimace of pain. She began to sob uncontrollably. She said she felt lonely and unfulfilled. There was anger and sadness.
As a child, she had been abused by a violent father. I saw quickly that her pain was not caused by her present life circumstances but by past heavy pain-body. Her body has become the filter through which she viewed her life situation. She was not yet able to see the link between the emotional pain and her thoughts, being completely identified with both. She could not yet see that she was feeding the pain-body with her thoughts. In other words, she lived with burden of a deeply unhappy self.
I directed the focus of her attention to what she was feeling inside her body and asked her to sense the emotion directly, instead of through the filter of her unhappy thoughts, her unhappy story. She said she expected me to show her the way out of her unhappiness. Reluctantly, she did what I asked her to do. Tears were rolling down her face, her whole body was shaking.
"At this moment, this is what you feel", I said. There is nothing you can do about the fact that at this moment, this is what you feel. Now, instead of wanting this moment to be different from the way it is, which adds more to the pain that is already there, is it possible for you to completely accept that this is what you feel right now?"
She was quiet for a moment. Suddenly, she looked impatient and said angrily, "No, I don't want to accept this!"
"Who is speaking?" I asked her. You or the unhappines in you? Can you see that your unhappiness about being unhappy is just another layer of unhappiness?"
She became quiet again.
"I am not asking you to do anything. All I'm asking is that you find out whether it is possible for you to allow those feelings to be there. In other words, and this may sound strange, if you don't mind being unhappy, what happens to the unhappiness? Don't you want to find out?"
She looked puzzled and while sitting silently, I noticed a significant shift in her energy and said, "This is weird. I'm still unhappy but there's a space around it. It seems to matter less".
That space comes when there is inner acceptance of whatever you are experiencing in this present moment.
-E.Tolle
