This is the new blog.
I have several ideas about the direction it will go, but nothing in concrete quite yet.
My only real hope here is to return to the original intention of Failure in the Victory Garden, with painfully honest transparency for both spiritual healing and clarity on my own perspectives/direction. With that, I will say that I intend to republish some of the more personally relevant articles I've written from the Failure blog here as well.
If you find value in it all the better, but it's not the point of it.
If you know me at all by now, you probably know that I have no concern for offense, either offering or receiving it. (Although I would never needlessly do so.) It like so many things can be a part of the healing process. Get over your offense enough to learn why you are offended, rather than considering that you are offended, and you'll know what I mean.
Removing you self as much as possible as a factor from the equation is vital to gaining a less distorted view of any truth... or so I think. You can figure that one out if you want.
Most often it is we who block our own view of truth.
If you know me, you also then know that I believe that the ugliness we can see on the outside is far worse once we start looking at the inside. I think that's true of people everywhere, and most often what we see is only what is revealed intentionality or not. Sometimes it is plain to see other times we have to look for it.
External beauty is far easier to achieve than internal beauty.
It's a difficult thing to face that ugliness which is in ourselves and it is why I think most of us, and me too, would rather avoid it if we can. It really does take a lifetime to prepare for living.
I don't really care if anyone likes what I have to say. Trust me I dislike myself far more than you ever could, the major difference being that only I am stuck with it and only the efforts I expend will change it. With the best and worst of intentions several have tried and failed throughout my lifetime.
I am not beyond correction, however if you feel inclined to tell me that I'm wrong have the respect to explain to me how it is that you believe I am wrong or your opinion will be regarded as simply that, your opinion. Teach me all you wise ones.
Based in my own experiences, I have to think that what holds true for taking in personal guilt and blame also holds true for our own thoughts processes over all. That is, we believe what we have been prepared to and are then willing to believe.
All of us know that we have limited experiences and understandings that shape our belief systems. If we believe in a God that operates through design and not default we would take into consideration that those same experiences and understandings that shape our beliefs, are also different between each of us. So then it would seem natural that while some of our beliefs may have as much commonality, as our histories do, they may only share that much, and it would be arrogant on our part to think that only our beliefs are the correct beliefs.
If right and wrong are factors to consider we must also consider that we may unknowingly be either at any point as well. If we can acknowledge that much, we would be wise to reserve that level of judgement we could easily share in ourselves and simply listen to the tales of others and share with them our own without ulterior motive. It called bearing witness and I think it's we are called to do. God will sell Himself.
Lessons from the playground:
1.It takes one to know one.
2. ... words bounce off me and stick to you.
Back to the point, this applies not simply to faith and our perceptions of God and His attributes, but also those perceptions and attributes that we apply to others and ourselves.
Perception however is not reality.
That being said, our culture loves to blame shift and confuse one as being the other in labeling them as "our truths" when if fact they are simply "our perceptions" and not truths at all. It's a grand way to really muddy those waters.
Given the bigger picture, and that by design we perceive the world around us through the lens of our own understanding, we may be capable of grasping limited truths as they individually apply, but as the finite struggling to comprehend the infinite, I'm not really sure anymore that anyone can know actual reality or the never changing nature of those multifaceted universal truths we like to think we do.
This is where faith and trust come into play I suppose.
Again that's up to you to figure out.
I don't expect or even ask that anyone believes what I do because I do and I wouldn't respect it if you did. I have arrived at my own conclusions throughy own experience and so I suggest you do the same. Search your hearts with the sort of honesty that allows you to forget any pride about having been wrong so that you can move forward.
Think for yourself, please.
I'm as fucked up if not worse than you.
Last, I will say this: It is in the end better to run toward something instead of away from something.
The latter will simply keep you running forever and accomplishes little in the end. Even the best horse in the race will drop if they are run hard enough, long enough.
Solo Cristo Salva
d (-_-) b
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