The Pits

Concordia, Kansas

Pss. 40:2 “He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings.”

The Pit

It saddens me when people are so filled with hate that they need to point fingers, laugh at, mock, joke and make fun of people (after posting scripture mind you). The world is so full of negative influence that people just fall right into the web of deceit.

They are misled and misguided and they are only a source of light and inspiration to make themselves look good? It puzzles me to no end how people really feel good about themselves when they KNOW they’re not following God FOR God, they follow Him for looks.

I liken the world to a pit; a pit where people are clawing at the mud, trying to find purpose in their existence and just spilling more mud because clawing is only stirring up the avalanche of clay that will soon bury them knee deep in the mire.

They seek but cannot find; they search but cannot grasp; they claw and fill their nails deep with the clinging clay. They are stretching for everything out of arms reach. They think but they don’t think fully; they aim but always miss the target.

"Authenticity is a collection of choices that we have to make every day. It's about the choice to show up and be real; the choice to be honest; the choice to let our true selves be seen." ~ Brené Brown

People seem to graze at the truth but never end up capturing the truth. When the truth is captured they can lay claim to their authentic self, which has eluded them while seeking out the wrong things in life.

Why do people strive for what they can’t have? Why do they poke fun at others or crave what other people have? Why do people try to claim goodness when so much is eating at them where they need to release a negative spin on almost everything they touch, read or hear?

I see people trying so hard at being good but they lose track when they try too hard. Being good and righteous should not be a chore that one undertakes, it should be a flow of natural behavior that many, all too many, do not understand. 

They would much rather tread in a mud-filled pit and try to define good and bad and cling to both. It can’t be done. I see it being done but really it should not be a way to live. You cannot serve the masters of good and bad, right and wrong, dark and light. You’ll find yourself stuck in the pit and never finding sure footing of a way to get out. 

You can try and find God, but cling to the negative juncture in the road. You will try to see the light, but offer up a dark shading umbrella for people to climb under. You pretend to offer light but secretly hide the darkness within you and that is what is shining forth, not the light within you. 

Now I see where the term, ‘the pits’ comes from, “the pits” as slang for the very worst, the most degraded and depressing example of something. To me, humanity is ‘the pits’!  They live there, breathe there, share there and cling to their own beliefs infecting others like a wildfire burning out of control with the compulsion of negativity. People of the same thought process, ‘we can serve two masters and get away with it’ feed the pits.

I myself, when I see negative reactions to things I run like a bat outta hell! I won’t allow myself to be infected so I strive to spread light and love in hopes to give the people in the pits a rope to hold onto to pull themselves out.

While they continue on the path of politicizing everything, children are being beaten to death. While they fill their bodies with food and nourishment, people are dying without a bit of kibble to bite on. While they’re off laughing and enjoying poking fun at people, there are people being battered and bullied physically.  

Before laughing at all of the crazy crud going on in the world take action, not words and memes but first, take a look inside yourself and see what is bullied and battered and why you feel the need to poke fun at others. Maybe you’ll see a way out of that pit you find yourself dwelling.

Matt. 18:33 “Shouldest not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had pity on thee?”

Lent: Day Twenty ~ Sacrifice

John 3:16 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.

Lent: Day Twenty ~ Sacrifice

God sent His Son to die on the cross for our sin; the ultimate sacrifice. And here we are a nation finding it hard to sacrifice even a parking spot to the person who arrived opposite you at the same time. You hurriedly jump in the spot and you see it was an elderly woman with no handicap spaces available, seeking a spot close to the store. You scoot out of your car, hey because you were there first, and you rush in the store.

Do you recognize that scene? No? How about the person on the highway, doing the speed limit that you feel you NEED to pass up because they’re going too slow? A hurried race to get wherever you are going, doing whatever you were doing only to arrive at the same exact location you had planned.

Sacrifice. No one is willing to sacrifice one moment, one second of their time to complete the task they selfishly set out to do for themselves. Maybe this post should be about control because basically that’s what it is, the need to control every aspect of your life, not giving anyone else a moment of your sacrifice.

Sharing, sacrifice, caring about others feelings; these are all things the world is depleted of. I see the nation squandering opportunities of sacrifice to have the me, me, me position. Everyone has the truth, everyone has the proof, everyone dawdles their days away because truly, sacrifice isn’t in their vocabulary.

I was asked recently if I was Catholic. Because I celebrate Lent; she was curious to know. It was an honest and fair question, after all I say I’m a Christian and I’ve never really specified myself as attached to a certain religion. Yes I attend an Evangelical church, we’ve also attended a Baptist church and yes I was raised Catholic.

BUT I do not define myself AS an Evangelical, Baptist or Catholic, I define myself as a Christian, a spiritual Christian at that. Lent, to me, is a part of my Spiritual Christian journey. Sacrifice is part of the Lenten experience, to me. TO ME!

I sometimes get confused during this time because as I’m sacrificing, there are many people around me who don’t even acknowledge it as Lent and continue in there day to day life, over-indulging in ignorance and hate and selfishness and the consumption of life in general.

It puzzles me as how they can complain about something as simple as rush hour traffic, or the long lines at the food store, or not being able to get that parking spot closer to the door of the store. Humanity puzzles me when they don’t have one ounce of sacrifice in them.

How many people unknowingly suffer because you’re to prideful to sacrifice one iota of time, hate, mischief, misunderstanding and judgment?

It is really weird, because I spent twenty years sacrificing my life in a marriage that didn’t work two ways. The reasons behind failed marriage are because of sacrifice and compromise that two people couldn't agree on. Relationships are severed because it wasn’t worth the sacrifice. To some, sacrifice means everything while to others it means nothing. When two are not willing then one is left alone.

Lent to me is a time to find where more in my life might be sacrificed for others. I find no joy in living and never putting other people first while I’m off thinking of what I can selfishly accomplish today.

While sin is set on eating us away until we don’t even recognize the path we’re on is empty of worth, I’m off thinking how I can make a person feel that they are worthy. It is my goal to put you before me and see where it carries me.

Now if the whole world could think of Lent as a spiritual journey instead of just a religious holy time, I think more and more people would understand the fruit of sacrifice. Why is everyone set on what the materials fruit produces and never concerns themselves with the spiritual fruit salvation brings?

Sacrifice five minutes of hurriedness to slow down and take your time. Sacrifice the moment of hate and instead share love. If we can acquire 24 hrs of moments that we sacrifice bad with good, the world will then take a spiritual spin with you, otherwise the rotation will always be the same. Every day you will wake, seeking solace and finding none. More and more negative will flow in and soon it becomes too much of a burden to bear, then it consumes you.

Sacrifice…if God can do it for us, I think we OWE it to Him to TRY and do our best for Him.

 Pss. 54:6 I will freely sacrifice unto thee: I will praise thy name, O LORD; for it is good.