Test Post After Absence

Butterfly Surprise

Yesterday during my lunchtime walk, I found myself following a periwinkle butterfly. I don't think I've ever seen a butterfly that color before - intense purpley-blue. It wasn't very big, about an inch at the widest point of wingspan, and at first I thought it was just some petals of a flower that had gotten caught in the breeze. But the constant flutter and flit soon convinced me otherwise. I was hoping it would light so I could get a better look, but alas! my convenience was not on its agenda for that day. I'm not sure how much exercise I was actually getting as I bounced around, trying to get a better look. But I figure the time outside enjoying God's creation was refreshment enough for that day. Apparently, I wasn't the only one, either. I was talking to a co-worker who took the same route a few minutes earlier. She had stopped to enjoy some black raspberries growing along the path. Now, I didn't see any of those - perhaps because she ate them all? - LOL!!

Middle-of-the-Road

I have come to the conclusion that I am a middle-of-the-road person. My personality simply doesn't do extremes. When I'm with very high energy people, I wear down and pull away, becoming more low energy. When I'm with very low-energy people, I want to stir things up and light fires under rears. Proximity to very messy people makes me tend to be much neater than usual. Lots of liberal left-wingers in the area - I pull more right. The opposite happens with too much far-right exposure. Lots of emotion among my companions? I tend to pull back emotionally. None of this is intentional - it just seems to happen. Not because I'm feeling contrary (usually), but more in an equilibrium-seeking sort of way.

It can be dull sometimes here, toeing the dotted white line. Sometimes I bounce from side to side, just to see where the middle really is. Sometimes I veer all the way to one side or the other, just to see what's going on out there on the fringes; get a little taste of the "excitement". Always, I seem to come back - can't help it!

I am the middle of the road, exactly the way God made me.

Scraped Knees

Sometimes the state of my Christian walk makes me feel like I am one of those kids who never will mind, but instead constantly lets go of her Father's hand to run ahead - only to come back crying after falling and scraping up her knees. And once the pain has eased, she's off again. Will I ever learn?

The Universal Law of Co-Creation - Rebuttal

An acquaintance with whom I am corresponding wanted me to look up "The Universal Law of Co-Creation". He has an invention that he very much wants to have become successful, and has become persuaded that if enough people get on board and "believe" it will happen, it will. He has apparently read a book by Wayne Dyer to this effect and now thinks that Romans 5 backs this up for him. Not being familiar with any of this, I went to the internet and did a little research. What I learned made me somewhat ill. Here are the basics of the this "Law":

The Shortcut to Working with Universal Law

1. We are, each of us, the thinker in our world.
2.We choose the thoughts we think, and we are the creator of our thought patterns.
3. Our dominant thought patterns manifest in our lives.
4. Therefore, we want to eliminate thought patterns that deny our good and create in their stead thought patterns that establish our good.
5. “Our good” is whatever we desire in life, so long as it does not interfere with anyone else’s good. Each of us gets to define what that good is.
6. Once we come to accept that we are truly entitled to have good happening in our lives, and the good that we define for ourselves becomes a living reality in our minds, the door to the manifestation of our good is wide open.
7. The Universe supports us fully in bringing the manifestation of our good to pass . . . guiding and directing us, attracting into our lives everything necessary for it to happen.

This is not of God. This is new-age spirituality. The Bible clearly commands us to have nothing to do with this. These are Satan’s lies. We are not “entitled” to have good happening in our lives. Nowhere in the Bible that I am aware of is this stated. God does give us many good things, but it is out of His own love and goodness and not because we have somehow managed to earn it. Are we not sinners, redeemed only through the work of Christ? It is not up to us to define what is “good” for us, or what is “best” for us. Only God is qualified to do that. Only He has the infinite wisdom and perspective to know this. The universe? It was created by God. It has no “power” of its own. Every good gift is from God (even if we don’t recognize it as such). “Have nothing to do with godless myths and old wives tales; rather, train yourself to be godly.” (1Timothy 4:7)

I read Romans 5. Paul reminds us of the wonderful work Christ has done for us, releasing us from the pain of death through His own death and resurrection. In fact, verses 3 & 4 specifically deal with our sufferings and the good that they produce for those whose hope is in Christ. But note! The good they produce is perseverance, character, and hope – not material blessings!

Wayne Dyer claims the field of “self-empowerment.” I think further research would show that he is not a Christian, but rather, one of those new-age spiritualists. In 2nd Timothy it says “For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths.” (2 Tim 4:3-4)

This acquaintance is a Christian believer, as far as I know. Nothing I have learned about him prior to this has led me to believe otherwise. It is not often that the battle between good and evil is so visible and clear to me as it was as I researched and responded to his email. I am going to continue to look for additional Biblical verification that this "Law" is myth, and hope to update this post in the future with what I learn.

Boys Will Be Boys!

I spoke to my mom on the phone the other day. It seems my nephew and dad went on a Cub Scouts camping trip last weekend at the Scout camp on Mt. Lemmon. Chris (nephew) had a great time, but you know what made it so great (according to him)? Apparently the fact that they had a big pine cone fight and he got absolutely filthy! Mom said it took two showers to get all the dirt off of him. Man, that kid is all boy! Well, he does have an inordinate fondness for the color pink - but when people tease him about it, he tells them "real men can handle pink!" (And the kid won't be 10 until this summer!)

No Kleenex! :-)

I experienced a small miracle yesterday. It is the height of allergy season, I have a small cold, and wonder of wonders, I made it through all my laundry loads yesterday without washing a single kleenex! Woo hoo!! When I was a kid, my mom used to get so mad when I would leave a tissue on a pocket and it got washed. It was never intentional, of course. As an adult doing my own laundry, I can understand her frustration. What a mess they make! I am not sure how it happens, but I have, on a number of occasions, gone through every pocket removing tissues, money, etc., and still opened the washer lid after the cycle ended and found a tub full of tissue shreds. It's a mystery - kind of like the lost socks!