- Not The Only One!
- Post #130
- 25 Apr 24
- ” All Dogs Go To Heaven “
- Howdy!,
- I appreciate you guys and the encouragement that you offer through sharing your stories and pieces of your lives with me. I think that Disney put out the movie about all dogs going to heaven. I don’t know that to be true ☺️. It’s a little bit of a contradiction from scripture, but I’m not here to burst bubbles, so if it makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside, then hold on to that☺️☺️.
- This post was inspired by the loss of a Christian artist this past week by the name Mandisa. A friend broke the news to me and actually it caught me a little off guard. I think that the majority of the shock was because I didn’t believe that she was that old. A little bit about her. Some of you maybe familiar with her and her story, but a good portion of my audience will not be. She originally popped up on the scene back in 2006 on American idol. While she was extremely talented and had great range, she didn’t win the contest but did finish in the top ten. The big to do about her and American Idol came down to the fact that she was fat shamed by one of the judges…. Simon Cowell. It was done on national TV and there was a great out pouring of support for her. She took the high road with Mr. Cowell and told him that she would pray for him. I do believe that they had some kind of reconciliation over the matter down the road. She went on to have a great deal of success as many of the none winners of Idol often do. She had a successful career, she won a Grammy and recorded with some of the other biggest names in contemporary Christian music to include Toby Mac, Kirk Franklin and others to just name a few. I saw her twice in concert over the years and she definitely delivered the goods. ☺️☺️ The last time I saw her in concert she performed from a bar stool, and she mentioned vaguely about some health concerns and then she disappeared from making music for a while. When she came back, she talked a little bit about the dark side and the personal demons that she had been wrestling with.
- Demons can take on many forms and for her, it was wrestling with food and depression. The depression took a deep downward turn after the loss of a close personal friend. Her friend was dealing with cancer while she was pregnant. After the baby was born, they thought that they had turned a corner and then her friend suddenly died. If you have never found yourself in some kind of deep despair and wondering why God allows certain things to take place then , you my friend are a unicorn ☺️☺️. I think that we often want to weigh the measure of a person’s goodness and only see, why they shouldn’t have experienced a negative thing or be taken out of the world, and life just doesn’t work that way. If there is any truth to the saying that only the good die young , then that was exceptionally true for Mandisa, because she was only forty-seven.
- My friend who originally broke the news to me said, ” how very sad” , and that was true. My initial response to her comment probably came across as cold and callous . I don’t normally think of myself as a person without a filter, but there are times when I shoot off my mouth ☺️☺️. I know, I know….what did I say? Well, my response was, now she is at home , where she belongs. I know that there is suffering and then there is “SUFFERING! ” , and in our mindset we like to categorize the difference, as if the person who is walking through it, should be able to tell the difference and be able to temper it….how ludicrous! Most of us have known or experienced someone on their death bed taking morphine or some other pain drug, while waiting to pass on into the next life . We may not equate that with world hunger or someone wrestling with a food addiction, but for that person, while they are there, there is no difference in their minds , what so ever!
- I’m not real sure where I picked it up from, but somewhere in my travels, someone impressed upon me that our lives are a symphony and each day we add another measure of music to that symphony. The point is that we all have hopes and dreams and they usually evolve around some plan that we are working on or dreaming about, but one day we all leave an unfinished symphony behind. I have heard several pastors preach on the Dash. The Dash is everything that takes place between those two dates on your tombstone. Some may call it legacy, but it really is about what you were known for and left behind. I think that most of us have a mixture of some mountain top experiences and other things that we wish that we could delete or erase from the highlight reel☺️☺️. Well!, at least I do anyway ☺️☺️. Times of showing up and times of showing off☺️☺️. It’s almost amazing that the times of showing up and the times of showing off are usually interpreted very differently, depending on who the consumer of that information may be. What I’m trying to say is that sometimes our not so caring so much , can be extremely meaningful and impactful to other people. So, we can be making a difference while not attempting to, and many times our grand gestures are seen as a flop, or one of those look at me moments ☺️☺️.
- Let’s reach out and make a difference. I’m an extrovert at heart, and at the same time a deeply private person. I’m very particular about what I share and who I share it with. When it comes to public figures or ” celebrities “, I don’t usually give two flips about what is going on in their lives, because they put their pants on just like I do, one leg at a time and usually the facade of what is put out for public consumption is less than a real narrative. It’s a kin to the guy who goes to work with an Ak47 and shoots up the place and all of his neighbors saying he was such a nice person always polite and well adjusted….not so much! ☺️☺️. The truth is we never know what someone is walking through at any given moment and they just may be out on a ledge, metaphorically. The smiles at times are hiding a lot of pain. I mean if you give a huge amount of money to a charity or some cause, why do you have to announce it to the world? Was that your intent to get recognition for something or as being seen as being somehow good? I often think that there are basically two types of outings when it comes to celebrities shares. That’s when they divulge personal information about a family matter or some health crisis. It will often be framed as to” raise awareness “. Well they aren’t the first person to cross that threshold and they won’t be the last, but frankly it often just comes across as whoa is me. How many other people have walked through that precise situation without the resources or that platform to garner support for their misery. I’m not saying all, but there is definitely a percentage that falls into that category.
- Then there is the heart bleeding let me walk with and enter into your suffering with you. I don’t want to be just a spectator to your suffering, but an active participant encouraging you in your distress. Mandisa was one of those people. She touched people with her music and her stories, but she genuinely wanted you to know that you weren’t alone. She wanted you to know that she knew what it was like to have the refrigerator calling your name from the kitchen at two in the morning ☺️☺️. She wanted you to know that she had those days when the cloak of depression was so heavy that she couldn’t get out of bed. We have those low moments and we can’t even get you to believe that there are some so low that they make the ones that we do share , sound like a day at the park or the beach somewhere. There is the PTSD of walking through in your mind over and over again the comments of Simon Cowell and others like him to become our net worth. The truth is we don’t need those kinds of people and their sly comments, because usually there is no one harder on us than ourselves. Most people go through the day and snack or eat their hearts desire, but for others every time something comes close to crossing their lips , there is the inner turmoil of a world war going on inside.
- Back to the Dash. We all only get so many revolutions around the sun and then the symphony ends. Will we be remembered as someone who ran the race well, or as I like to say , finished the dance strong☺️☺️, or will we get to the end and wrestle with where did all of the time and fun go?. I made my comment about at least she is home now. I didn’t say that as flipped as it may have sounded, but isn’t that one of the major or key perks for having a relationship with God, knowing that your eternal future is secure? I’m a person who also has my vision impaired or obstructed by the things of this world, but at the end of my days, I know that this is not my home. I know that some day, I will witness Mandisa singing with a holy choir and with angels ☺️☺️. It will be one of the best performances of all times. As we get to the end of our time together here, I won’t mix words, or speak in parables. If you are trying to figure out purpose, why am I here, or the often illusiveness ” the meaning of life ” , the point of it all, then this is it. We were all made, created and designed to be in relationship with God and with one another. It’s real important to get the relationship with God correct first, otherwise it’s like putting the cart before the horse☺️☺️. Yep, that is a main contributor to some of the dysfunction in your life, because You need to know God to know how to do life and to do it well. Does that mean problem free ? Absolutely not, but it means the best possible ever support system. A relationship with God means constantly being aware of how jacked up you are , and that You are are glad that someone is there to point out, but more so to offer solutions and hope, for when life comes at you like a raging Grizzly bear at a national park somewhere ☺️☺️. And believe me, if it hasn’t yet, it will.
- A gentle rebuke of sorts if you are one of God’s kids. God didn’t place us here to look and behave just like everyone else. We are supposed to be set apart. This is no easy task that God has charged us with, but He doesn’t ask us to do it alone. In fact, He wants to enter in and walk with us as we muck our way through the mire of the daily grind. We aren’t here to build and buy bigger and bigger houses. We aren’t here to see just how much a 401K can actually hold☺️☺️. It’s not about the best career or the most sleek automobile imaginable. Just because we sometimes like to turn the simple into the complex, God made it real easy for us, yet somehow we continue to mess it up☺️☺️. We only have two directives and that is to make Him more known and to share with others as to how to connect with God. The primary vehicle for this is supposed to be our lives. The lives that we live are supposed to be attractive and a little alluring to people who don’t know God. I will be the first to admit that often my life resembles something closer to a dumpster fire, than anything attractive and alluring ☺️☺️. As I’ve said before it’s not about the falling down but it’s about the getting back up. Mandisa had failures in life and she got back up. She wrestled with demons but she ultimately pointed others towards God and she did that through her weaknesses, because she knew that God was her strength and constant companion, even in the really dark places . It was just another take on her life being attractive and alluring. In the end she was an Overcomer.
- Till Next Time ✌️ Peace!
- Sandy The Southerner
- Reply
- ,
- Reply All
- or
- Forward
Send
