Siggy’s Blurbs

It is a four letter word — “pain”.  That more than anything in my life has initiated change.  My pastor yesterday related the story of Noah and the flood and of course the ark.  He said the storm comes first, then the promises of God represented by the rainbow.  Another way of saying the same thing is that God will always take care of you.  The 23th Psalm states, ‘I will walk you through the shadow of death’, –not around but through.  Ecclesiastes, the book in the bible written by King Solomon says, ‘Bad things happen even to good people.’  Storms always come or trials which is another way of saying the same thing.  Then the rainbow follows, which represents the promises of God.  God never forsakes us.  You never are able to see the big picture:  ‘God has set eternity in our lives’ (Ecclesiastes, again).  Life does not always make sense nor is it always fair.  If you insist on all that, you will torture yourself unnessarily.  Pain and trials always come.  If your life ran smoothly all the time not only would your life be boring but there would be no need to ever learn how to overcome problems.  And trials and pain and tragedy come to each person.  No one is exempt.  And again, life is never fair.  And that is how we learn.  Through those trials (and the accompanying pain that follows).

Tags: change, God, knowledge, learning, Noah and the ark, pain, trials
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It always makes a difference to you when you do not wear your watch:  my watch band broke.  The last two Sundays I went to church I did not have a watch on.  The time flowed differently.  I focused more fully on the service.  I did not get impatient.  I never forgot the comment of Gulliver in “Gulliver’s Travels” when he was asked by the Lilliputians (the little people) what that large ticking machine (referring to his watch) was and he replied, “It is my God.  I would not do anything without first consulting it.”  Too many people consult their watches way too frequently and lead their lives by the book and heavily regimented.  They never learn to flow with the moments they deem important.  It is an interesting experiment to leave your watch at home and learn to flow with your important moments.  God knows there are enough clocks around to keep your appointments on time.  Try it some time.  Take your watch off for a day or two or even a week.  See how that changes your perception of the events occurring around you and through you.

Tags: balance, knowledge, learning, time, watch
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I do not have to know everything.  Of course, no one can.  There are few Renaissance people any more.  Yet it is so easy to feel shame if you can not do  simple things and envy the knowledge others possess.  It is so hard to know what you know and know what you do not.  This knowledge is the beginning of wisdom.  Ignorance is bliss.  You can relax in the fact this world is interdependent.  We all need one another.

Money can provide the illusion this is not so.  It is truly an illusion.  All you have to do is think of all the services provided for you.  Someone keeps the roads paved.  Someone is raising the crops that provide the food you buy in supermarkets.  The Army and the police assure your safety.  There are scientists,  engineers working on solutions to improve your life further.  There are hospitals, doctors, teachers, the list is endless of people out there providing for you and your children.  Are you beginning to get the point?  We are dependent on one another.

In fact the bad ecoconomic state we are in even more so forces us to rely on each other.  That is really a good thing.  One does not have to do it alone and can relax.  Still you have to do your part.  Nevertheless,  we are interdependent with one another.  We can rely on each other.  That is really  the way the world is designed.  In the words of John Donne,  ‘No man is an island.’  If we can hold on to that idea, the world becomes a much smaller place and we can relax further.  No one has to do it alone.  We are in this world together.  It is okay to ask for help when you need it and certainly it is okay to reach out to the needs of people around you.  All that can be very comforting.

Tags: balance, interdependence, knowledge, learning, relationships, wisdom
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Everything is connected in this universe.  All you have to do is read the newspaper.  You will learn some history, current events, science–just about anything.  Read a story or an novel you certainly learn some sociology, psychology.  Coursework in school artificially defines the subject matter.  Read long enough everything comes together–every subject.  The world is interconnected and you really can’t isolate one little part if it.  Schools try.  You really can’t.  Everything is connected.  Knowledge is really a circle.

Tags: knowledge, learning
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I have more than enough unread books and that does not include the steady stream of daily newspapers and magazines that come to my household.  Do I feel guilty I can not keep up with my reading, that I never read the complete newspaper from cover to cover?  Certainly not.  I am reminded of King Solomon’s words in the Bible and I am not sure I can quote that verbatim:  he says we can become weary of too much study.  I read what I most want to read.  I scan newspapers and magazines reading what most interests me.  I do not feel compelled to read every word.  That would be a trap and make reading onerous instead of the joy it is.  The words of Solomon written over 2,000 years ago have not changed.  In an era of instant communication one thing has not changed through the ages–the saturation point.  Each person can absorb so much information and then becomes sated.

Life is always a balancing act.  Reading is only one part of my life.  I need time to absorb and reflect on the significance of what I read and for that matter I need time to simply reflect periodically where I am going or have been.  That takes time and often quiet.  Reading is only one thing I do and is punctuated by empty spaces.  I never feel guilty I have not read enough or thoroughly enough.  It is all relative.  One has to live his life.  Ideas are only one thing.  Then one has to put into practice what he/she learns.  That is only possible if reflection takes place.  And that, of course, takes time.

Tags: balance, Bible, God, knowledge, learning, reading, time
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