fancy work

This writing was spurred on by so many things going on in the world. One of those things involves a man with 18 brothers and sisters and another involves a lady from Kentucky. This post is not about them but they are part of the tapestry that made this post a post. I'm sorry but there's no way to write this little. This is not a subject I can tackle in a short post. So, let's get to it.

You see it everyday. There are so many people in the world who profess their faith so loudly that they can drown out everything else that is going on in the world. Almost every time you see someone do this, you later find that this person has the most skeletons to hide. I tell people this theory of mine from time to time in random settings and every time I do, people start nodding their heads up and down. Not side to side but up and down. We all see it. And even though we all see it, that never stops the amen's when these people step up to the stump. We also know looking back over our own lives, that we have not been perfect ourselves. When you've done "an item or two" (as Granny Lucy used to say) in your life that you are not proud of, you may feel the need to lie around it or ignore it. Then you may feel like if you just start preaching the gospel people will either forget it or overlook your indiscretion. You don't really need anyone's forgiveness. You need to forgive yourself. If you forgive yourself then you will be much more likely to be able to forgive others. We all mess up. It's the way we learn to be better.

Pointing your finger at others is a smokescreen that you don't need. When I think about this subject it makes me realize why so many religions ask for you to first confess to start the process of turning your life around. If you let all of your cats out of the bag then when you're all good and ready to start a new path, you won't have some pesky little thing behind you, that you have to keep looking back at. There'll be nothing there to later bite you in the butt, once you try to be a better person. These people who never unbag their cats are usually the folks who yell "LORD LORD LOOK AT HOW FANCY I AM WORKING FOR YOU." If you love yourself and you really value others you can allow others to be who they are while you are being the best you. When you don't value yourself you make a show of trying to be a good person, mostly to prove to yourself that you are better than the past you feel the need to hide.

A few months ago I did a series of posts where I exposed my past. Everyone that really knows me knows about my failings and nothing in these posts was news to them. I laid this all down a long time ago. I wrote the series hoping to empower others to free themselves by doing the same thing. People know the things you do in your life and even when you are able to hide some of it, you cannot hide it from yourself. You go walking around covered and weighed down with it. Wouldn't your life be so much simpler and lighter if you just laid it all down? People will forgive you and this act will be a model for others to do the same thing.

No one comes into their lifetime with a manual. You are going to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes. The best way to recover from a mistake is to take your licking, dust yourself back off and learn the lesson the thing was meant to teach you. Don't dwell there. Don't get stuck there. Don't think it is the end of the world. You are lovable. If you can't see that, it's going to be hard for you to really let someone else love you like you should be loved. If you love yourself you can do all the fancy Lord's work you want in quiet and you won't need anyone's validation or attention.

I want to say one more thing. If this makes you feel judged I can promise you as the one saying it that I am not judging you. I know that I am not. If you feel like I'm directing this at you I can assure you that as I wrote this I took no inspiration from a single person I know. If you feel judged, it is you passing judgment. I can't get up in your head and make you think a single thought. What life has taught you is that thing in your head making you think what you think. You have to shut that down. I can't do it for you. The reason I wrote this post for you is so completely out of a place of love and a yearning for you to be happier than you ever knew you could be. I want you to know this thing for yourself because maybe you've not been able to before. You will find the real essence of who you are when you shed what's been weighing you down. Now just drop it and feel the calm and peace wash over you. Like being baptized, you will be renewed.

Note:  If you didn't get the chance to read the series of posts that I referred to above you can find them by clicking HERE. To read them in the correct order, go to the bottom of the page and start with "where'd she come from, this little one" and work your way up.