” The Basics “

Not The Only One !
Post #103
09 Nov. 23
” THE BASICS “
Howdy,
Thanks once more for checking in. I have been a little dry of late, I’m not going to call it writers block, because I don’t always think of myself in those terms. I think that maybe its just me being distracted about some up coming time off. My thoughts are of what I need to do prior to that, for me to feel as if it will be a successful time off. That right, you heard me correctly, I have to prepare and plan for upcoming time off. Here’s one for you to put it into perspective for you, why do I hear people talking about cleaning their houses before the maid comes in? .I will be happy to receive comments on that one, or for someone to bring sanity to my thinking ☺️☺️. Is it for the maid to not know what a slob, you really are, or is it just as simple as dollars and cents, and they charge more, for the more complicated Messes? ☺️☺️.
Ok, two days ago all across the country we held local elections, in which many would consider to be the grass roots of politics. Its where it all starts for most people. They seek a school board seat, or being a delegate, or some commissioner seat, maybe a mayor or city council ‘s race. For some this will be their highest calling In life , and for others, it is just a jumping of point to bigger and better, or more corrupt things ☺️☺️, and yes that was a little jaded of me. If we were to look at this in a sports analogy, this would be pee wee football, or what some know as Pop Warner. So some will play in this arena,, while others will move on to play at the next level, so some become professional, or career politicians, so I guess running for president would be the equivalent of the Superbowl of sorts☺️. If you think I’m going to be talking about politics, then, not so much!. I’m just setting the table ☺️. I have certain friends who just thrive on the political trash slinging and I like to think of myself as maybe just slightly, ever so slightly just perhaps a little more evolved. I’m not throwing shade on them, but again my perspective is that all government falls under God’s dominion, and whether it is good government or not so much !, we are told to submit to it, because God’s ultimate purposes will be accomplished. I know for some of you guys that is just a little to simplistic or perhaps naive. I believe that we have a civic duty to vote and that we are suppose to stay informed and vote our values ,,but all the other stuff, like the protesting and being poor sports when things don’t go our way, or our guy or girl doesn’t win, well for me that’s just a little over the top. If you have faith and believe in the sovereignty of God, then ,why let your blood pressure sky rocket, and again, just maybe that pulsating vein in the middle of Your forehead, might want a break as well. ☺️☺️ . Again if it’s how you get off, and your idea of fun, then by all means indulge yourself to your heart contents, because just like in sports there will always be another game or season, there’s always another election cycle as well.
This one particular friend who enjoys this immensely, touched on something that I thought was so crucial and maybe hits the nail on the head, more than anything else. They brought up the point about validation and how we all some how crave that, and need it. It’s one of the wonderful awful things about social media, you can make a post about any crazy thing that you wish and immediately get likes, to affirm or to validate one’s self. I will from time to time discuss the deep divisions that we have in this country, but there was a time when there was more of a consensus about certain things. We use to could agree on what was the seven wonders of the world were , but there is now even contention about what they are , and things that we once stood in awe of such as the Grand Canyon, we think perhaps not so much! any more. Along with that, there is also so much speculation on what are the basic needs in life. Some would say food, shelter and love ,but maybe the male persuasion would say sex, but sex is not love, but it is a release of sorts. ☺️ I don’t think that most of us would dispute the first two things, food and shelter, but I believe that different people would replace the third one with a varied assortment of things, for some it might be a gaming system ☺️☺️, who knows now days ! It seems often now days, that someone will put forth a new idea or concept of something that would challenge the traditional or status quo, and if they can get a few others to agree with them, then they will make a push to change something that has been widely accepted for what seems like forever. I’m not going there ! , but isn’t that what we have with the gender stuff? All of my life, and for hundreds of generations before me, we were male or female ,the way God intended, and now somehow it’s a big question mark❓️, really ⁉️ I’m willing to put aside the fact that I don’t like change, but shouldn’t it be something meaningful and moving us forward as a people, instead of just blindly over the cliff?
Ok, let’s just write that off as a little bit of a digression, which I have a tendency to do from time to time. I think that validation is a pretty big deal and something that goes to our core and the way that we are designed. Now!, just like we would probably get several other suggestions as to what the third thing would be considered basic needs in life, others may choose to substitute validation with love, or approval, or some other affirming noun or adjective. Bottom line is that we all seek or crave some kind of acceptance, whether we are words of affirmation people or not. We see this with our children, or experienced it first hand with our own parents as we desire to know that they love us and are proud of us, or approving of our life choices and the path that we are on.
The flip side of that coin can simply just be so devastating when that need is not met or fulfilled, as we look at the desperate measures that people are willing to take to fill that void in life. We should not at all be surprised by this ,when there is just so much data out there now. It’s been heavily documented about the difference it makes in newborns lives, when they don’t get that early attachment to its mother, or someone else filling that critical role in their early life. We see this later in life as well when you see kids who join gangs. They are looking for acceptance and approval, and gangs often offer a family setting of sorts, in a very dysfunctional way. This lack of validation is not just seen in newborns and in teens or young adults, but it plays out in any and all segments of the population. Often you will see women in abusive relationships for years, where they are not valued or appreciated, because of the need for love and acceptance. We don’t always realize when we are broken and I know that from a first hand, personal point of view. We will often believe or succumb to the negativity that we don’t deserve love or are worthy of being loved. These negative and spiraling thoughts of negative self worth ,will often lead to addictions, further poor or other harmful choices in life. And just for the record, everyone is deserving of love and some level of compassion.
This will often bring us back to social media platforms seeking that approval. It’s almost instantaneous as to how quickly we can be pumped up by a thumbs up or a like to something that we post. It a little bit reminded me of when my kids were younger and playing ball. As it got around to the selection of the all star team process, I would often see and hear coaches saying that I would vote for your kid, if you would vote my kid on, when in reality, probably neither of the kids could have ended up there based on merit or their performance on the field.☺️☺️ The point is that it’s self serving. We self sooth on both sides of that equation, because whether we give the like or receive the like, we are keenly aware that we are not alone in the world. Someone else thinks, feels and sees the world as I do. Its a little related to a codependent relationship, not a traditional one , but still codependent. In a day and age of so much segmentation, that kind of approval can be the difference between someone being on a ledge or not. Cyber bullying is not a new thing and is sadly in the news just a little to much.
As I’m accustomed to doing, I want to turn the page or flip the script of sorts ,or perhaps just offer a different perspective all together. One of our biggest obstacles in life is getting past what others think about us and how they view us. I will be completely transparent here and tell you that this is one of the major benefits of getting older, and that is, I just don’t care so much about what others think of me. I had a post sometime ago about when I was in grade school about a little bullying and a fight. That whole scenario would have never taken place if I had that mindset back then, ,but it would have robbed me of a valuable lesson. I’m not a complete throw away as if I’m completely without a filter, it’s just that the filter is much more refined. There are people who I do care about what they think of me, such as my kids for instance, I don’t want them to have me committed to a mental institution before it’s necessary ☺️☺️. So, I’m not throwing in the towel on personal hygiene and things of that nature, but why give two flips about what some random person in Walmart may think of me. I may extend that caring process to some whack jobs out on the road, because we never know when road rage will end in gun violence, but I pack mine as well, so it could be a different version of the OK corral ☺️☺️. I think certain people in certain situations. I wouldn’t recommend meeting your future father in law with a bunch of playboy bunny gear on, it just sends the wrong message, if you know what I mean ☺️☺️. So , once again I’m talking about things within reason and using good common sense, which we know is in short supply now days.☺️. I make light of it , but seriously, we need to escape the trap of other people’s condemnations of us. After all, who died and made them judge and jury? ….wait for it… There is one who did die , and rose again and we absolutely should be concerned about what he thinks of us. I want to dispel any ideas that you guys may have about winning God’s favor. There is nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing that we can do to make God love us anymore or any less. If that is true, then why care about what He thinks of you? Great question, and I’m so glad that you asked it☺️☺️. God has this upside down kingdom thing going on, such as the last will be first, the greatest person will be a servant, and my all time favorite, if you try to hold onto your life, you will loose it. Now, we need a little context for each of these bodacious statements. However, think of that as a little bit of homework for yourself and I’m going to go here instead. We have been talking about validation and the importance of that, and I just laid out the word condemnation. All throughout scripture there is this theme of now but not fully yet. No place is this more apparent than when you look at the belief of the messiah being a conquering king who would restore Israel to its prominence that it had during the rule and reign of king David . At the very same time, there was a dual story running simultaneously with it that the messiah would be a suffering servant. Ok, I want to speed this up and say that you have pretty much been living under a rock, if you haven’t heard anything about the second coming of Christ. However to not to take anything for granted here, consider yourself informed that He is coming back just like He said He would. Ok, let’s see if I can continue my crash course in Christianity #101. Right now at this very present time, God is saying to you in what should be a very loud voice, is that He loves you beyond what your wildest imagination could ever think about, and He is screaming that from a cross,” forgive them for they know not what they are doing ” and if that is not clear and loud enough, just listen to the echo from an empty cave that was serving as a grave , that says,” why are you looking for the living amongst the dead”, Yes, He’s alive!! And we all know about the echoes that an empty cave makes☺️☺️
God loves you, He wants you, He approves of you ,He doesn’t condemn you and He died for you. He doesn’t care where you have been or what you have done. He wants to do the hard work of cleaning you up from the inside out and if you think that you can do that yourself, well good luck with that, because you are definitely going to need something much more substantial than luck my friend. I’m hoping that You are connecting some of the dots for yourself, because it’s never really a good idea to have someone to spoon feed you all of the time. Just in case you missed it, when He returns as the conquering King, there will be a reckoning of all things, but right now because of the cross, ,it’s like a get out of jail free card, and He says break bread with me and have fellowship, or a relationship with Me. The invitation has been made, and as they say, the ball is now in your court now ☺️☺️. Unfortunately, those of us who know Him, sometimes do a really bum job of representing Him, and that’s why we should care about what He think of us, because we are ambassadors, and one day He will recall our posting, and we will be HOME!!
Till Next Time ✌️ Peace!
Sandy The Southerner

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