Dear America,
"Do not be misled:
'Bad company corrupts good character.'"
1 Corinthians 15:33
it is awfully important to recognize that which we conform to, voluntarily and of our own volition, while doing this thing called life.
are we conforming to the things of this world, putting all of our attentions to the places, people, things of this world...things that may, or may not, be out for our best interests --- or --- are we conforming to something Not of This World....something of a Higher Purpose under Heaven, preordained by God Itself?
As the Corinthians had come to know quite well -- all things go according to this law, one way or the other.
Bad company -- can truly be bad for us; thus, let us be alert, aware, cognizant of the company we keep.
In keeping with the fullness of proper understanding, that thing called company can look an awful lot like our thoughts, our friends, our families....our vices and our politics....our teammates and our co-workers.... and here's a real shocker -- even our loves. That very company -- along with the entire community of company that we keep -- reveals just who we are right now, in this present moment, as well as, who we ultimately grow to become...somewhere down the road; both light and dark forces share the road, and it takes courage and strength to continually choose the right side.
And it is no more different now, then it was in the day of Corinth. Human nature is the one kind of constant we can all depend; it's human nature, it's human nature, it's human nature.
In keeping with the fullness of proper understanding, that thing called company can look an awful lot like our thoughts, our friends, our families....our vices and our politics....our teammates and our co-workers.... and here's a real shocker -- even our loves. That very company -- along with the entire community of company that we keep -- reveals just who we are right now, in this present moment, as well as, who we ultimately grow to become...somewhere down the road; both light and dark forces share the road, and it takes courage and strength to continually choose the right side.
And it is no more different now, then it was in the day of Corinth. Human nature is the one kind of constant we can all depend; it's human nature, it's human nature, it's human nature.
When the Apostle Paul traveled hundreds and hundreds of miles -- preaching the Gospel -- he chose to leave everything behind and make a career as a traveling salesman, of sorts -- selling something he truly believed, with every fiber of his being: the Word and the Absolute Presence of God, in, and of, this world; it is the beginning and the end.
In good company, hand in hand with God, Paul spent his days and nights spreading the good tidings of God's Grace, God's Promises, and God's Word; this became his entire focus. And certainly, to know and experience God's Good -- His Grace, Promises, Word, and Love -- is to also know and appreciate God's conditions and expectations upon this world, upon us, living in the world that God made; to demonstrate that kind of love right back, by following in the ways, in the truths, of God, is the very least we can do, right? [But the greatest, of course, is love :) [1 Corinthians 13:13]
Taking this kind of Apostle-lonian faith even further, is to believe that no matter what comes our way (the good, the bad and the just plain stupid), that in the end, everything comes together for our good.
God always has a plan for us. And if we are distracted in the ways of this world, if we are not in alignment with our gifts, our purpose, the plan designed and mapped out by God, then things happen to get our attention...
Things begin to happen in order to bring about the deeper mission -- a mission only meant for us, individually, and rippling out in the collective. And naturally, as we grow closer to God, this awakening, this path, becomes better illumined, and more defined. Nothing in our lives should be of higher priority/reality than the actual walking, and loving, and living, in a life with God -- making God first, for all else shall be added unto you...
God always has a plan for us. And if we are distracted in the ways of this world, if we are not in alignment with our gifts, our purpose, the plan designed and mapped out by God, then things happen to get our attention...
Things begin to happen in order to bring about the deeper mission -- a mission only meant for us, individually, and rippling out in the collective. And naturally, as we grow closer to God, this awakening, this path, becomes better illumined, and more defined. Nothing in our lives should be of higher priority/reality than the actual walking, and loving, and living, in a life with God -- making God first, for all else shall be added unto you...
From one of my favorite spiritual gurus, Ernest Holmes, founder, and author, of The Science of Mind (which has nothing to do with Scientology, just FYI...) --
"God is not only an infinite Presence, the Spirit is also an indwelling reality. The silent whisperings of this inner Presence come to each as a divine revelation, an inner communion of the individual spirit with the Over-Soul; that vast and invisible Presence in which we live, move, and have our being."
The Apostle Paul knew of these things, because the Apostle Paul lived these things accordingly; he knew of this kind of intimacy with God, intimately and firsthand and without wavering, in spite of horrendous things happening to him throughout his life, doing the work of God. Paul was unshaken -- even through beatings, imprisonment, troubles, hunger, sleepless nights...with every bit of it being hard work and often bringing pain and anguish (paraphrasing 2 Corinthians 6:3-6); it would seem correct to say, that the work Paul was destined to do, with an unfathomable kind of love and devotion, was the ONLY true company he meant to keep.
If only a t-shirt could have been marketed way back when, for it would read: eat, speak, sleep G [as in BIG G! not little me, g, okay]
Oh happy day...
It's Sunday!
and so of course this girl will be all up in praise, giving it her Sunday best!
And that was where we left it.....on Sunday....and in a huff and a puff.
"RET ROW," (just being one of my favorite Scooby Doo lines ever).... It's no longer Sunday...it's not even Monday...it's now a Tuesday. And a time warp has just snatched 48 hours from me like nobody's business. What happened?
Computer Down is what happened...
Just as I was rolling along, almost singing a song, on Sunday afternoon -- suddenly, everything stopped. The computer was having none of it; it logged off Wi-Fi not to come back, no matter what coaxing and Spiritual Mind treatments this girl could muster -- and to add further mystery, not to be explained by even the likes of Microsoft some odd two hours later... ugh.
Then, after having left it alone, after a nap and a shot of Makers Mark, I came crawling on back -- crossing my fingers and toes and begging for leniency. And boom. Ping bada bing. It can't be explained; it can't take away hours of frustration; it can't even make the day begin again on Sunday, pretending it never happened.
Reality is, it's Tuesday. And there is no fighting with reality here, right...
So this girl is heading straight back to center, returning to Holmes, in a little book called, This Thing Called Life:
Oh how essential the company we keep.
Lastly, before this girl must make her way to the rest of her busy day --- let me leave you with a really, really good read. In one regard, it explains the company I like to keep -- linking with The Patriot Post; and in another, it explains the greater urge, deep inside, to further educate myself on how this great nation was made. I firmly believe that these founders of ours, not only recognized the plan orchestrated by The Divine, but they also understood the great mandate before them, respective of each generation of ours being required to align, and fully unite, for the common good -- even knowing it was not a guarantee....as things happen. Oh human nature, human nature, human nature...
1. The Federalist Papers 230 Years Later. yes, please.
2. Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Paper No. 1.
It's just a good start to begin to explain how "bad company corrupts good character" and can be so vewy vewy bad for us, in so many, many ways. But let us not weep over the mistakes of yesterday...or, even the last hundred years when this government of ours has gone completely off the rails, off the trails, and have landed completely upside down and ass backwards. Not one thing can explain it -- for its innumerable.
But please, let us not dwell here.
Let us go here, instead, for this is where good endings begin:
Make it a Good Day,
Keep Good Company,
G
"RET ROW," (just being one of my favorite Scooby Doo lines ever).... It's no longer Sunday...it's not even Monday...it's now a Tuesday. And a time warp has just snatched 48 hours from me like nobody's business. What happened?
Computer Down is what happened...
Just as I was rolling along, almost singing a song, on Sunday afternoon -- suddenly, everything stopped. The computer was having none of it; it logged off Wi-Fi not to come back, no matter what coaxing and Spiritual Mind treatments this girl could muster -- and to add further mystery, not to be explained by even the likes of Microsoft some odd two hours later... ugh.
Then, after having left it alone, after a nap and a shot of Makers Mark, I came crawling on back -- crossing my fingers and toes and begging for leniency. And boom. Ping bada bing. It can't be explained; it can't take away hours of frustration; it can't even make the day begin again on Sunday, pretending it never happened.
Reality is, it's Tuesday. And there is no fighting with reality here, right...
So this girl is heading straight back to center, returning to Holmes, in a little book called, This Thing Called Life:
The Science of Mind teaches us to look for good instead of evil; to praise and not to condemn; to bless and curse not; to live each day as though the Spirit were guiding us; to have a firm conviction that we are counseled by Divine Wisdom and protected by Infinite Love. We should at all times sense this overshadowing Presence and have implicit confidence in Its direction.
No matter what the doubts and fears of yesterday were, the affirmations of today may rise triumphantly over them. If we persist in seeing beauty, beauty will appear. Let us no longer weep over the mistakes of yesterday. This is futile. We must learn to forgive ourselves even as we forgive others. Let us remember that 'each day is a fresh beginning, every day is the world made new'.''
Oh how essential the company we keep.
Lastly, before this girl must make her way to the rest of her busy day --- let me leave you with a really, really good read. In one regard, it explains the company I like to keep -- linking with The Patriot Post; and in another, it explains the greater urge, deep inside, to further educate myself on how this great nation was made. I firmly believe that these founders of ours, not only recognized the plan orchestrated by The Divine, but they also understood the great mandate before them, respective of each generation of ours being required to align, and fully unite, for the common good -- even knowing it was not a guarantee....as things happen. Oh human nature, human nature, human nature...
1. The Federalist Papers 230 Years Later. yes, please.
2. Alexander Hamilton's Federalist Paper No. 1.
It's just a good start to begin to explain how "bad company corrupts good character" and can be so vewy vewy bad for us, in so many, many ways. But let us not weep over the mistakes of yesterday...or, even the last hundred years when this government of ours has gone completely off the rails, off the trails, and have landed completely upside down and ass backwards. Not one thing can explain it -- for its innumerable.
But please, let us not dwell here.
Let us go here, instead, for this is where good endings begin:
"There is a shelter of a rock in every man's soul."
Make it a Good Day,
Keep Good Company,
G
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