I don't know what to say...do you think perhaps some people could take a hint?
If I ignore your friend request a million times I could mean I don't have anything to say to you.
This is aimed at one person and one person only. Unless you are him...don't be offended. And he shouldn't be offended. He simply needs to realize that forgiveness and being friends are two completely different things. You're forgiven. However, I have no need to have you in my life. All God's best to you. Now, go away.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
Is it coming true?
I ordered what might be my social demise. Netflix can now be streamed wirelessly to the Wii. It's amazing, all you do is put in the disc and instantly you have access to hundreds, probably thousands of movies. So, I don't really have to leave my house again.
I used to teach middle school English. Since I received this disc in the mail, I have been thinking about a story I taught my students. I can't remember the author. It was a science fiction piece, so it's likely it was Arthur C Clarke or Ray Bradbury or Issac Asimov. I really, really wish I could remember the title of it. The story was about how technology had gotten to the point where people never had to leave their houses for anything and they didn't interact with anyone else.
Hmmm...have we gotten there?
I used to teach middle school English. Since I received this disc in the mail, I have been thinking about a story I taught my students. I can't remember the author. It was a science fiction piece, so it's likely it was Arthur C Clarke or Ray Bradbury or Issac Asimov. I really, really wish I could remember the title of it. The story was about how technology had gotten to the point where people never had to leave their houses for anything and they didn't interact with anyone else.
Hmmm...have we gotten there?
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
And I have a blog why?
I just pulled up my blog and saw that I had last written in here in January. JANUARY??? Obviously my goal to write a post once a week in 2010 has fallen by the wayside.
I started this blog when I was in the middle of some of the craziest times in my life to help process my fears, thoughts and hopes. In a way it was an open prayer journal to God. It was also a way to to let people know what was going on and what God was doing in my life.
I haven't posted at all since January. I haven't written fewer and fewer posts since my walk down the road with cancer and unemployment. Over all the my life in the past months has been quiet. Changes have been smaller in scale, there have been no crisises, my health has been good, my days have been busy, I'm working probably too much again, my finances are stable for the moment. I wouldn't say all my problems are solved, but it's not overwhelming like it was at one point.
Here's the thing I have to confess, I think that my inattention to my blog cooresponds with my inattention to something else, my time with the Lord. I definitely spend some time every day in prayer for "the important things" and most weeks I take the time to prep for Bible Study, but the pages of journal are as empty as the pages of this blog. Even right now as I write this, I am sitting at a table at a conference where I am keeping an eye on the powerpoint presentations someone else is presenting. Have I really been taking the time to have God "search my heart" as the Psalmist says in Psalm 139? Probably not
As I look to the next days, here is my hope, that I will turn back to the days when I was desperate for answers and hope and clarity. I want to return to those days, not particularly to the uncertainty, but to the dependence, to the awareness of my need.
I started this blog when I was in the middle of some of the craziest times in my life to help process my fears, thoughts and hopes. In a way it was an open prayer journal to God. It was also a way to to let people know what was going on and what God was doing in my life.
I haven't posted at all since January. I haven't written fewer and fewer posts since my walk down the road with cancer and unemployment. Over all the my life in the past months has been quiet. Changes have been smaller in scale, there have been no crisises, my health has been good, my days have been busy, I'm working probably too much again, my finances are stable for the moment. I wouldn't say all my problems are solved, but it's not overwhelming like it was at one point.
Here's the thing I have to confess, I think that my inattention to my blog cooresponds with my inattention to something else, my time with the Lord. I definitely spend some time every day in prayer for "the important things" and most weeks I take the time to prep for Bible Study, but the pages of journal are as empty as the pages of this blog. Even right now as I write this, I am sitting at a table at a conference where I am keeping an eye on the powerpoint presentations someone else is presenting. Have I really been taking the time to have God "search my heart" as the Psalmist says in Psalm 139? Probably not
As I look to the next days, here is my hope, that I will turn back to the days when I was desperate for answers and hope and clarity. I want to return to those days, not particularly to the uncertainty, but to the dependence, to the awareness of my need.
Saturday, January 2, 2010
Beauty Will Rise
One of my Christmas gifts was the new Steven Curtis Chapman CD, "Beauty Will Rise." First of all, let me say, I love Steven Curtis Chapman. He is by far my favorite Christian musician. I've grown to enjoy other, newer folks like Chris Tomlin and David Crowder, but Steven is my favorite. I love him because he's an amazing songwriter, a great guitar player, has an outstanding voice and his heart for Jesus is so evident in every single word. He writes of the love, wholeness, joy, hope and peace found in walking with Jesus. I love him because years ago, a friend of mine got his autograph for me at a music conference. With it, I got a bonus, the signature of his then very little girl, Emily. That's the kind of guy he is. I love him because one time when I met him before a concert he signed lots of items for my 9th grade girls Sunday School class. During the concert it all got stolen. I went to the artist signing afterward, he recognized me and he took the time to re-sign multiple things for me even though his handler kept saying "one item per artist." I love him because that same night I got to have a conversation with him afterward and he let me pray over him because I saw the weariness in him at that late hour. I love him because he does stuff like give backstage passes to the girl who was one of his childhood sweethearts (my friend Angela) and her family. I saw him treat her like he just saw her yesterday with genuine love and interest in her relatively mundane life. I love him because he listens to his children and his God. It was that little girl Emily who one day when she got a little older and heard of the plight of orphaned girls in China suggested, no insisted, that the Chapman family adopt.
Steven and MaryBeth who had three teenaged children, Emily, Will Franklin and Caleb, followed God's heart and adopted. Eventually they adopted three little girls, Shaohannah, Stevie Joy and Maria. They started a foundation to help families that wanted to adopt both internationally and domestically. They took God at his word and lived out true religion by taking care of the orphan. They seemed to have the perfect life, a blessed life. On May 21, 2008, it all took a tragic turn. The family had just experienced Caleb (the youngest son's) graduation and Emily's engagement, joyous family moments, when something horrible happened. Will Frankin was pulling into the driveway and accidently hit the youngest child, Maria. Maria did not survive the accident and the Chapman family was thrown into a place they had never been before, a place of overwhelming grief and pain. I still can't imagine. It's hard enough to deal with the loss of a child, but to double it by having it happen accidently by another of your children? It somehow double the grief, doubles the questions.
"Beauty Will Rise" is a picture of Steven's walk through the days following Maria's death. Every single song is full of raw emotion, questions and heartbreak. It's a truly beautiful album, not because of the orchestration or the electronic wizardry of the engineering; it is beautiful because of it's honesty. Chapman's songs in the past have been full of faith, hope and joy. In these songs, the questions and pain sit on top and the hope, faith and joy sit underneath. It's there, there is not despair in these songs, but it is evident that lately the questions and pain have been on the surface of his life. It was recorded it hotel rooms, by lakes, in hotel ballrooms and church foyers (ah the wonders of modern recording) so it is not slick, but it does not need slick. I would suggest that you buy the CD rather than download it, simply to sit and read the liner notes. He goes into detail about where in the process of his pain these songs were born. It will make you cry again.
My favorite songs are "Heaven is the Face," "Just Have to Wait," and "Faithful" and "Jesus Will Meet You There." "Heaven is the Face" is the first track on the CD. It opens with "Heaven is the face of a little girl, with dark brown eyes that disappear when she smiles. Heaven is the place where she calls my name. Says, "Daddy please come and play with me for a while. God I know it's all of this and more, but God you know know that this what I'm aching for. God, you know I just can't see beyond the door." My first thought through my tears was, "Wow, this is going to be a rough journey." Then I came upon "Just Have to Wait" where he says, "I can't wait to watch your brother's face, when he can finally see with his own eyes that everything is okay." "Faithful" proclaims, "You are faithful, you are faithful. When you give and when you take away, even then still your name is Faithful. You are faithful, and with everything inside of me, I'm choosing to believe, you are faithful." "Jesus Will Meet You There" extends the journey out from the Chapman family to others, recognizing that just as Jesus has met them in their circumstances, Jesus will meet you in your moments as well.
I said that you should buy the CD so that you could experience this CD on another level. I will not spoil that experience for you, just believe me when I say that through reading the words and the stories behind them, you see how God has walked with them through this horribly painful year and half.
I said earlier that I love Steven Curtis Chapman and this CD gives me additional reasons to add to my list. As someone who has had what seems to be more than my share of pain in this life, this CD gave voice to things I wish I was able to put into words and music. For someone who hasn't walked that kind of road, maybe it might seem like a place that shouldn't have been gone to in Christian music. I for one though am grateful for the fact that "Beauty Will Rise."
Steven and MaryBeth who had three teenaged children, Emily, Will Franklin and Caleb, followed God's heart and adopted. Eventually they adopted three little girls, Shaohannah, Stevie Joy and Maria. They started a foundation to help families that wanted to adopt both internationally and domestically. They took God at his word and lived out true religion by taking care of the orphan. They seemed to have the perfect life, a blessed life. On May 21, 2008, it all took a tragic turn. The family had just experienced Caleb (the youngest son's) graduation and Emily's engagement, joyous family moments, when something horrible happened. Will Frankin was pulling into the driveway and accidently hit the youngest child, Maria. Maria did not survive the accident and the Chapman family was thrown into a place they had never been before, a place of overwhelming grief and pain. I still can't imagine. It's hard enough to deal with the loss of a child, but to double it by having it happen accidently by another of your children? It somehow double the grief, doubles the questions.
"Beauty Will Rise" is a picture of Steven's walk through the days following Maria's death. Every single song is full of raw emotion, questions and heartbreak. It's a truly beautiful album, not because of the orchestration or the electronic wizardry of the engineering; it is beautiful because of it's honesty. Chapman's songs in the past have been full of faith, hope and joy. In these songs, the questions and pain sit on top and the hope, faith and joy sit underneath. It's there, there is not despair in these songs, but it is evident that lately the questions and pain have been on the surface of his life. It was recorded it hotel rooms, by lakes, in hotel ballrooms and church foyers (ah the wonders of modern recording) so it is not slick, but it does not need slick. I would suggest that you buy the CD rather than download it, simply to sit and read the liner notes. He goes into detail about where in the process of his pain these songs were born. It will make you cry again.
My favorite songs are "Heaven is the Face," "Just Have to Wait," and "Faithful" and "Jesus Will Meet You There." "Heaven is the Face" is the first track on the CD. It opens with "Heaven is the face of a little girl, with dark brown eyes that disappear when she smiles. Heaven is the place where she calls my name. Says, "Daddy please come and play with me for a while. God I know it's all of this and more, but God you know know that this what I'm aching for. God, you know I just can't see beyond the door." My first thought through my tears was, "Wow, this is going to be a rough journey." Then I came upon "Just Have to Wait" where he says, "I can't wait to watch your brother's face, when he can finally see with his own eyes that everything is okay." "Faithful" proclaims, "You are faithful, you are faithful. When you give and when you take away, even then still your name is Faithful. You are faithful, and with everything inside of me, I'm choosing to believe, you are faithful." "Jesus Will Meet You There" extends the journey out from the Chapman family to others, recognizing that just as Jesus has met them in their circumstances, Jesus will meet you in your moments as well.
I said that you should buy the CD so that you could experience this CD on another level. I will not spoil that experience for you, just believe me when I say that through reading the words and the stories behind them, you see how God has walked with them through this horribly painful year and half.
I said earlier that I love Steven Curtis Chapman and this CD gives me additional reasons to add to my list. As someone who has had what seems to be more than my share of pain in this life, this CD gave voice to things I wish I was able to put into words and music. For someone who hasn't walked that kind of road, maybe it might seem like a place that shouldn't have been gone to in Christian music. I for one though am grateful for the fact that "Beauty Will Rise."
Thursday, December 31, 2009
2009 The Year of the Hermit
As I think about 2009 for me I believe I will call it The Year of the Hermit. I don't think that I've ever spent so much time by myself in my apartment as I did in 2009. I know that those of you who have rugrats pulling at your feet long for alone time and are probably jealous of me. I would say don't be, mostly because as I reflect on it, a good deal of it was time misspent.
It started with being in radiation treatments and being jobless. Both of those things tended to keep me to myself. Then came the hours and hours of job hunting. Job hunting has changed dramatically since I did it last, it's all done via the internet and you're lucky if you even have an e-mail exchange with a real person. But, it makes it just as easy to spend time playing mindless computer games as it does seriously look for work. I'd say the job hunting time was about a fifty-fifty split of time well spent and time misspent. Finally in May, a job emerged, but it only contributed to the hermitude (I think I made up a word).
I have a job now where I work from home. So, as I pay down bills and am able to contribute to the family who has so graciously opened up their home to me, I can't say that those hours were not time misspent. I am thankful for my job, even though it is not the desire of my heart. The prospect of being paid for every hour I work brings out any greed I might have in me. It was definitely easier to work at work than work at friendships. It became easy to work tons of hours and drive myself further into hermitdom.
Then there was not quite knowing what to do with myself when it came to church. It's really, really hard to go from being there 24-7 and being in the know, to just being another church member. I chose to remove myself as far as possible. I still went to Women's Bible Study and to services, but I did neither every week. I'm glad that God is faithful regardless of how many times we make it through the door, but it definitely contributed to the Year of the Hermit.
Thank goodness I chose to teach guitar lessons! I think I might have started to look like a hermit, if it weren't for seeing those kids on a weekly basis.
All of this wouldn't have been so bad if I had used my time better. I can't tell you the number of hours I wasted playing computer games or watching re-runs of TV shows that I've seen a million times or Facebook stalking. When I think of how much better I could have used those hours this year, it makes me sad; the songs that could have been written, the blogs that could have been posted, the books I could have read, the exercise I could have done, the time with friends that I could have intentionally spent and most importantly the intentional time in the Word and prayer I denied myself.
So here's to 2010 being the Year of Living. It is a reality of my life that I spend a lot of time alone, but I hereby resolve to use that time better this year. I hope to use it to grow myself, express myself and mostly to love God and those around me.
It started with being in radiation treatments and being jobless. Both of those things tended to keep me to myself. Then came the hours and hours of job hunting. Job hunting has changed dramatically since I did it last, it's all done via the internet and you're lucky if you even have an e-mail exchange with a real person. But, it makes it just as easy to spend time playing mindless computer games as it does seriously look for work. I'd say the job hunting time was about a fifty-fifty split of time well spent and time misspent. Finally in May, a job emerged, but it only contributed to the hermitude (I think I made up a word).
I have a job now where I work from home. So, as I pay down bills and am able to contribute to the family who has so graciously opened up their home to me, I can't say that those hours were not time misspent. I am thankful for my job, even though it is not the desire of my heart. The prospect of being paid for every hour I work brings out any greed I might have in me. It was definitely easier to work at work than work at friendships. It became easy to work tons of hours and drive myself further into hermitdom.
Then there was not quite knowing what to do with myself when it came to church. It's really, really hard to go from being there 24-7 and being in the know, to just being another church member. I chose to remove myself as far as possible. I still went to Women's Bible Study and to services, but I did neither every week. I'm glad that God is faithful regardless of how many times we make it through the door, but it definitely contributed to the Year of the Hermit.
Thank goodness I chose to teach guitar lessons! I think I might have started to look like a hermit, if it weren't for seeing those kids on a weekly basis.
All of this wouldn't have been so bad if I had used my time better. I can't tell you the number of hours I wasted playing computer games or watching re-runs of TV shows that I've seen a million times or Facebook stalking. When I think of how much better I could have used those hours this year, it makes me sad; the songs that could have been written, the blogs that could have been posted, the books I could have read, the exercise I could have done, the time with friends that I could have intentionally spent and most importantly the intentional time in the Word and prayer I denied myself.
So here's to 2010 being the Year of Living. It is a reality of my life that I spend a lot of time alone, but I hereby resolve to use that time better this year. I hope to use it to grow myself, express myself and mostly to love God and those around me.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Little Girls
So today is a very exciting day here in Stafford, at least in my circle of friends. Chloe Noel Griffitts was born this morning at 10:50 AM. She's beautiful and pink and swaddled securely in her basinette at the hospital. She weighed in at eight pounds and an ounce and is nineteen inches long. The happy parents are Becca and Ben Griffitts and her big brother is Noah. She has great-grandparents, grandparents, aunts and uncles and cousins galore, who are all very excited to see her finally. On top of that, she has a church family that can't wait to hold her and oo and ah over her (myself included). Her number one fan outside the family has to be Molly who texted me and said she was crying like a idiot over her. What a little gift from God. This little girl will no doubt be well loved, spoiled even. I was at the shower, I saw all the pink and soft and beautiful things that were lavished on her, and she wasn't even born yet. That is how it should be for all little girls.
Today, officials in North Carolina announced that yesterday they found the body of a child near a road near Fayetteville; they believe is 5-year old Shaniya Davis. This is NOT how it should be for any little girl. Last week, her mother reported her missing from her home. That same day, Shaniya was seen on a local motel's video surviellance tape with Mario Andretti McNeill, but had not been seen since. Police arrest McNeill and charged him with kidnapping. A couple days later, Shaniya's mother was charged with human trafficking. I can't help but think back to when Shaniya was born. Was she met with the same love and excitement that Chloe was met with today? I hope so, from the pictures I've seen of her, she looked like a well-cared for, happy little girl. So, what happened? What would drive a mother to sell her child? What would drive you to put her into the hands of someone who would discard her along the side of a road like an empty McDonald's bag? Why didn't someone, anyone see what might happen? Surely, this was a choice her mother was teetering on the edge of for some time. Why do we all live with our eyes closed?
So today, just as my heart bursts for the joy of Chloe's advent into the world, it cries for the loss of a little girl I don't know, but hope I don't forget. God help me live with my eyes (and my heart) wide open.
Today, officials in North Carolina announced that yesterday they found the body of a child near a road near Fayetteville; they believe is 5-year old Shaniya Davis. This is NOT how it should be for any little girl. Last week, her mother reported her missing from her home. That same day, Shaniya was seen on a local motel's video surviellance tape with Mario Andretti McNeill, but had not been seen since. Police arrest McNeill and charged him with kidnapping. A couple days later, Shaniya's mother was charged with human trafficking. I can't help but think back to when Shaniya was born. Was she met with the same love and excitement that Chloe was met with today? I hope so, from the pictures I've seen of her, she looked like a well-cared for, happy little girl. So, what happened? What would drive a mother to sell her child? What would drive you to put her into the hands of someone who would discard her along the side of a road like an empty McDonald's bag? Why didn't someone, anyone see what might happen? Surely, this was a choice her mother was teetering on the edge of for some time. Why do we all live with our eyes closed?
So today, just as my heart bursts for the joy of Chloe's advent into the world, it cries for the loss of a little girl I don't know, but hope I don't forget. God help me live with my eyes (and my heart) wide open.
Thursday, October 1, 2009
The Power of Consquences
Okay, I generally try to stay positive in this blogosphere, but I'm going to join some angry protests about this one. Hollywood is one messed up place. Sometimes I forget that, but I got reminded in a big way this week.
Finally after evading police for over 30 years, Roman Polanski was arrested this week in Switzerland for the 1977 rape of a 13 year old girl. And some people in Hollywood are DEFENDING HIM!!! They are signing petitions asking that he not be extradited to California to face the sentence that he should have faced 30 years ago, but wasn't man enough to do. I mean, I know that the world-view in Hollywood can be pretty screwy but really, defending him. There is no doubt the man is a brilliant director and has a gift for telling a story, but that does NOT excuse the fact that he got this young girl, drunk and high and then had sex with her. I realize he lost his wife and unborn child to the Manson murders, but that does not give him free reign to steal the innocence of a young girl. On top of that he was a coward and he ran.
She was practically a baby. I don't care if he says it was consensual. He was an ADULT and she was a CHILD. Adults are supposed to protect and look out for children, not use them for their own pleasure. That's messed up enough. But the fact that some in Hollywood are defending him, using his art and his age and his philanthropy to try to make it look like the police have arrested Mother Teresa. AUGH!!!
Now, I realize I have said here before that sin is sin and it doesn't matter what it is you've done that it's all equal in the eyes of God. I still stand by that truth. And I also realize that it's perhaps somewhat hypocritical of me to have sort of defended Michael Jackson and yet vilify Roman Polanski. Difference being the Polanski confessed to his deed and then ran from his punishment. In Jackson's case, it has never been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he did anything to children. I also understand what it is to have a friend accused of something that you cannot fathom them doing. You see, I had a good friend who was accused of being a pedophile. When I heard about the allegations I couldn't believe it, not this person I knew. If I had to testify in court I would have to say that guy I knew I never would think could do that, but it didn't make it any less true in the end. The last I heard, my friend was in prison serving time for his crime. So how can people in good conscience defend Roman Polanski when he himself has said it was true!! I don't care if it was yesterday or 70 years ago, he needs to pay for his crime. Sherrie Shepard, one of the panelists on "The View" got it right when she said on Twitter the other day, "we hunt down 75 year old Nazis. We must protect our children." We don't care how old a terrorist is when he's arrested, why should we care that Polanski is in his 70's and a French citizen. That doesn't make him unaccountable for the crime that he did on American soil when he was in his 40's.
So as you can tell, I'm a little up in arms about this. I know Hollywood is full of ridiculously liberal people who live a lifestyle in complete opposition to my life and belief system, but honestly with all the support that they give to women's rights, how can they support this? I guess it's because they don't believe in the power of consequences. Not really anyway. Facing consquences is hard. It's in consequences we learn that life isn't really all about me. When we sin (and all of us do) there are consequences, in some cases its something small in the scheme of things like learning how to manage your money better, in other cases its big like having to win back the trust of a spouse or a friend after a betrayal. If we believe in the power of consequences we use them to learn and grow and make us better. Usually it takes a lot of strength and work and even more importantly faith to do that. God can use our greatest failure to create our greatest triumph if we turn it over to him. If we don't believe the power of consquences then we run from them or pretend they have no impact. We reinforce the idea that life really is all about me. The funny thing is, that when we do that, they manage to continue to pop up in one way or another. In Polanski's case, it was the law finally catching up with him, in other cases it's broken relationships or addictions or a plethora of other things. These people who are defending Polanski are really keeping him from the power of the consequences in his life. I wonder how much greater his art would have been if he had acknowledged his sin as sin, asked to be forgiven of it and taken the consquences. If it's up to the Hollywood elite, we'll never know.
Finally after evading police for over 30 years, Roman Polanski was arrested this week in Switzerland for the 1977 rape of a 13 year old girl. And some people in Hollywood are DEFENDING HIM!!! They are signing petitions asking that he not be extradited to California to face the sentence that he should have faced 30 years ago, but wasn't man enough to do. I mean, I know that the world-view in Hollywood can be pretty screwy but really, defending him. There is no doubt the man is a brilliant director and has a gift for telling a story, but that does NOT excuse the fact that he got this young girl, drunk and high and then had sex with her. I realize he lost his wife and unborn child to the Manson murders, but that does not give him free reign to steal the innocence of a young girl. On top of that he was a coward and he ran.
She was practically a baby. I don't care if he says it was consensual. He was an ADULT and she was a CHILD. Adults are supposed to protect and look out for children, not use them for their own pleasure. That's messed up enough. But the fact that some in Hollywood are defending him, using his art and his age and his philanthropy to try to make it look like the police have arrested Mother Teresa. AUGH!!!
Now, I realize I have said here before that sin is sin and it doesn't matter what it is you've done that it's all equal in the eyes of God. I still stand by that truth. And I also realize that it's perhaps somewhat hypocritical of me to have sort of defended Michael Jackson and yet vilify Roman Polanski. Difference being the Polanski confessed to his deed and then ran from his punishment. In Jackson's case, it has never been proven beyond a shadow of a doubt he did anything to children. I also understand what it is to have a friend accused of something that you cannot fathom them doing. You see, I had a good friend who was accused of being a pedophile. When I heard about the allegations I couldn't believe it, not this person I knew. If I had to testify in court I would have to say that guy I knew I never would think could do that, but it didn't make it any less true in the end. The last I heard, my friend was in prison serving time for his crime. So how can people in good conscience defend Roman Polanski when he himself has said it was true!! I don't care if it was yesterday or 70 years ago, he needs to pay for his crime. Sherrie Shepard, one of the panelists on "The View" got it right when she said on Twitter the other day, "we hunt down 75 year old Nazis. We must protect our children." We don't care how old a terrorist is when he's arrested, why should we care that Polanski is in his 70's and a French citizen. That doesn't make him unaccountable for the crime that he did on American soil when he was in his 40's.
So as you can tell, I'm a little up in arms about this. I know Hollywood is full of ridiculously liberal people who live a lifestyle in complete opposition to my life and belief system, but honestly with all the support that they give to women's rights, how can they support this? I guess it's because they don't believe in the power of consequences. Not really anyway. Facing consquences is hard. It's in consequences we learn that life isn't really all about me. When we sin (and all of us do) there are consequences, in some cases its something small in the scheme of things like learning how to manage your money better, in other cases its big like having to win back the trust of a spouse or a friend after a betrayal. If we believe in the power of consequences we use them to learn and grow and make us better. Usually it takes a lot of strength and work and even more importantly faith to do that. God can use our greatest failure to create our greatest triumph if we turn it over to him. If we don't believe the power of consquences then we run from them or pretend they have no impact. We reinforce the idea that life really is all about me. The funny thing is, that when we do that, they manage to continue to pop up in one way or another. In Polanski's case, it was the law finally catching up with him, in other cases it's broken relationships or addictions or a plethora of other things. These people who are defending Polanski are really keeping him from the power of the consequences in his life. I wonder how much greater his art would have been if he had acknowledged his sin as sin, asked to be forgiven of it and taken the consquences. If it's up to the Hollywood elite, we'll never know.
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