Not The Only One!
18 Apr 25
Post #189
"Takers & The Exchange"
Howdy!
I trust that all out in the audience are doing well. We have a group chat at work and the other day ago, one of my guys was involved in a car accident on his way into work. He wasn't injured, thank God for that, but his vehicle was not so fortunate. He took pictures and shared them on the group chat and not even a minute later, one of my other guys suggested that he should lay on the ground and be hurt, so that he could get "PAID ". I thought to myself, what a horrible first impression or thought to have in your head. Let's take a situation that is already traumatic, and play pile on. It's bad enough to be at fault, but to add additional concern of causing someone else bodily harm, seems just to be the way to go now days. We want to take full advantage of anyone and everyone that we encounter. I wonder if , that's just more of kicking someone when they are already down. That is just one example of taking advantage, not even mentioning encouraging someone to commit insurance fraud.
How did we get here? And don't tell me survival of the fittest, because the stronger seek to take advantage of anyone, at a vulnerable moment. I don't think that my co worker is a bad person, but somewhere along the way , he was taught that it's what You do in the event of an opportunity to get " paid", comes your way. If I was to put this into context, it's no different than someone teaching their child to use racial slurs or bad words, ok profane language, because bad words could be debatable. Some people think that the word commitment is a bad word ☺️☺️.
As we go through life sometimes we are aware of the exchange of things being taken from us , or us being taken advantage of. I mostly feel that way about my taxes dollars. I feel that it's ripped away from me and my pay check and in return I get a hold bunch of crap that I would never choose or vote for . I've on countless occasions said that my only use for government is to maintain a military and to pick up my trash ☺️☺️. If they can't do those two simple things, why on earth would I want to put them in charge of much more important things such as my health care , my retirement, or to educate my children. It's just a thought , that's all. Sometimes we realize that the exchange is coming and we welcome it, such as stretch marks and the loss of our sleep for a newborn. ☺️ Years ago I remember a phycology class where we debated if there's any such thing as a victimless crime. I mostly come down on the side of there is no such thing. I believe that there are probably aspects of a crime that we don't see, which would lead us to believe that such a thing, as a victimless crime could exist. Take legalized prostitution for example. There is an exchange of money for a service. Some would say it's no different than any other service that we pay for , such as a lawn service. I believe that something is lost on both sides, when we can leagaly buy another person, even if it's only temporarily and simultaneously steal a little bit of someone's soul in the form of dignity and respect. I think that it just speaks to the disposablilty of how we see certain segments of the population and we justify it by putting the word worker behind the word sex.
I believe that most are aware as to how retail goods have a built in factor for losses, such as if a container goes over the side of a ship or if it's just straight up shoplifting, those cost are usually recouped by passing it on to the consumer in the form of higher prices. So , generally there are no free lunches, there are just cost over runs that we are unaware of, that cost someone else something that we didn't see or know about. And again no victimless crimes .
Here's one for you. I come from what is known as a large family today. It was six kids to take care of and feed, but back in the day it was a fairly ordinary event to have four or more kids and honestly, now days , most just can't afford that. We couldn't afford it either back then , but we just did it. It almost sounds like a criminal offense now days to do that with only one bathroom in the house ☺️☺️. Ok, the point is, have you ever blamed something on one of your younger siblings, because you knew that they would receive grace opposed to a severe screaming or something much worse? I think that's where "that take one for the team" comes from ☺️☺️. I mean there are those rare instances, when it could flow the other way as well. I remember one of my younger brothers throwing a ball in the house and breaking a lamp. I took the fall for it and explained that I was trying to demonstrate something and the ball just got away from me. They knew that I was old enough to know better than to play ball in the house, so I just got the " I'm disappointed " look , when they could have gotten a real butt tanning. ☺️ It's always a good idea to have leverage over your younger siblings and you know if the shoe was on the other foot, they would totally be having you doing their homework or some other chore for them☺️☺️. You poor only children, have no idea as to how much fun you missed out on by being the only child .☺️☺️
I don't know if there is ever an end to just all of the taking. One of my least favorites is people taking advantage and credit for someone's else's brilliance or work. Forget about the " dumb jock" who bully's an underling into doing their homework or some project. Sure that's taking full advantage of someone else, but it's really nothing when you get to next level of rip offs. They can be extremely clever at doing so. Here are a couple of my least favorites, a boss pulling away a subordinate from their family on the weekends to complete a project, while they themselves goes off and plays golf. They are the people who spell the word team with "I ". They take full credit and never mention the ones who sacraficed their time under the threat of, go work some place else. The corporate world with all of its" P.C", political correctness, has a sleaze factor as well. They frame it as a contest for whoever comes up with the next great idea to move the business forward. On the surface it's a great idea to get feedback from the people who may know the operation best, so I guess it's about the compensation for the next great idea to move the business forward and it can be a *pitense in comparison to how the company could benefit and prosper from that one idea. They may have had to pay an add agency thousands of dollars for an idea half as good, and in the past these kind of things could put you on the path for a promotion, maybe not a V.P spot, but surely something more than an extra day of pay. It ☺️☺️
It may seem like a low bar to talk about criminals, of course they are takers. They take and steal our property, everything from our cars to home invasions and a lot now days with our identities. I think one of the craziest things for me , is that a
lot of them are highly intelligent individuals who could do quite well in society but they want a short cut in the game of life and are really , really looking forward to relaxing somewhere on a beach with a Corona in their hands, and please don't forget the lime☺️☺️. Honest, some criminals are brilliant and very creative, it's just sad that they choose a life of crime as a viable option. Maybe I use the word sad just a smidgen to much, so it's a horrible thing when takers take things that can never be replaced. I'm not talking about a family heirloom, but when they violate a person's space or their bodies and they can just never ever relax and let their guard down for fearing that it could happen again. They steal a part of a person's soul, peace and security that can never really be restored or recovered. It's like seeing something that you were never supposed to see like walking in on your parents during coitus . Once you see it you can't unsee it and poking out your eyes is still just insufficient and doesn't erase the horrible memory. ☺️
We all know that its wrong to steal and to take things that don't belong to us , most know that its associated with something that was once carved on a stone tablet. ☺️ I think that we mostly think of it in terms of physical things such as taking a pen from work or maybe borrowing our neighbors garden gnome without permission ☺️☺️. We like to categorize and justify our sins , so to us a pen from work doesn't really register, after all it's not a car or the embezzlement of thousands or millions of dollars. I don't really think that God sees our infractions as misdemeanors or grand larceny, it's just is , what it is. Still we take other things from people, such as their self confidence. That's what is stolen after you invested your heart and soul into a marriage and then find out that your spouse decided to have an open marriage without discussing it with you. We can rob people of their peace and joy, and that sometimes looks like living under the threat or cloud of an abusive relationship. The shame of someone finding out of how you are being treated as less than , and feeling like a complete failure, for just accepting it, and not having the strength, courage or fortitude to stand up for yourself. Taking doesn't always look like you think it might and way to often we either don't think about it or consider the unfair exchanges that is dumped on us. Someone walks out of the door or maybe ghost you, and we immediately , start to think about what we did wrong and was deserving of such an action. Perhaps we know and we drove them away by some character flaw, and we usually know that and what it is, but something is still lossed and there is usually some paradigm shift or some loss of power. It can affect not only our self confidence, but lead to esteem issues that will last for decades
When the taking involves a violation of our bodies, we can spend the rest of our lives looking over our shoulders and being hyper sensitive towards any possible or perceived threats. This is probably not the best analogy, but it's what popped in. I don't always sleep well or soundly. I can be extremely tired and I just know that I'm going to fall asleep as soon as my head hits the pillow, but it just doesn't happen. I don't always know why, I just know that I'm not my best the next day from a lack of sleep. So, now the next night, I'm two days in the arrears with the sleep thing and now I'm considering every possibility why I'm not sleeping, just looking over my shoulder, overthinking it and probably contributing to my lack of sleep, just thinking about how desperately that I need to sleep. I never head of to bed and being convinced that I'm absolutely going to sleep. My sleep patterns are really of very little concern, when I think about something that registers in my head as criminally insane. If its not criminally insane , it's something that I have a really hard time wrapping it around my mind and reconciling it. The just for the unjust , or the innocent, where the guilty should be.
If there are takers and some kind of exchange, then there has to be someone who is a loser, a victim or someone taken advantage of, and not treated fairly. I said that I once took a fall for one of my younger brothers and I received an evil eye for that infraction, but I wasn't spat upon, nor was I mocked. I was not scoraged , and that could be a descriptive look for Google if you are unfamiliar with. I didn't have a mocked trial with false witnesses, telling lies about me. I definitely didn't have an impartial justice system that was intrested in the truth. I wasn't accused falsely , I wasn't tortured and beaten past recognition of being human. I wasn't forced to carry a heavy death instrument on my shoulders. I was not nailed to a cross to take someone's else's punishment, but someone did! I didn't bleed and die, the most humiliating death of all times, but someone did! I didn't pray and ask my father to forgive the people who were responsible for all of my pain, but someone did!
Someone did all of that and so much more, so that our broken relationship with God could be restored. Someone did that so that we could be free of condemnation and punishment. Someone did that so that we could be free of sin and shame. Someone did that , so that we could have hope and a future. Someone did that so that we could be forgiven and be justified before God. So that we could be seen as innocent and none guilty, even though we were. That someone is Jesus Christ, and He did all of that out of love and for love. He freely laid down His life and took our just punishment.
Make no mistake about it, we are the takers and the exchange is His righteousness for our unrighteousness, or self righteousness, if you think that you can forgive and save yourself. If you think that you have never done anything that needs to be forgiven, then that's just nieve. Remember when you were five and you snatched that toy from the other little kid...yeah!, that counts to, and it's the least of things that you have forgotten about and tried to sweep under the carpet ☺️☺️.
This Sunday is resurrection Sunday and for some,you haven't been in God's house since a year ago or maybe Christmas, and the time before that was an Easter ago as well. Isn't it time that you stop, listen and receive what is being said to you. Stop resisting God's spirit when you feel those tugs on your heart and you start to feel the heat, when everyone else in the building is perfectly cool, except a few others, who are exactly where you find yourself, under conviction. Don't be thinking about how embarrassing it is to raise your hard or to walk twenty yards of carpet. No one else matters, this is just between you and God, and you should absolutely treat it that way. Jesus did all that He did, just for you and He wants you to get to know Him on a more intimate level. He's already done all of the hard work. He took your punishment, so that you don't have to spend every awakening second looking over your shoulder. It's a gift that He freely gives and the only thing that is required of you is to reach out and except it. Come on! , no more games, because showing up once or twice a year is a game that you play to pretend that you are ok, when you know that you are not. Let this Sunday be your spiritual birthday, the day of your salvation, and trust me....it changes everything, when you are no longer under your sin and shame.
Till Next Time ✌️ Peace!
Sandy The Southerner
Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer
