The Plumbline

Worry gives each of us a little sense of anguish we don't really need to experience, but somehow we continue in our own person "anguish" and don't really let go of things we don't need to be focusing on.  Why is that?  I think it may be either because we think we "deserve" the anguish, or we just have issues with letting go of the control we want to maintain in life. Either way - it is foolish for us to live in worry.  Fear or dread is one of the natural responses we are given as a result of certain "senses" which kick-in various hormone responses in our body.  We are a little less in control of when fear may "kick-in", but we are capable of having equally as much impact on how long we allow fear or dread to "rev-up" those hormones within us.  Worry is usually because of uncertainty of some kind, while fear or dread is usually in the face of what we interpret to be "literal" threats to our lives in some way. We he...

When it rains, where do we head?  Indoors or under the protection of an overhang, right? Why do we do this?  We won't melt in the rain!  We just want to avoid all the consequences of being "out in the rain" - like wet clothes, spotted eyeglasses, catching a chill, etc.  When the sun is beating down and it is hot, hot, hot - where do we head?  Into the protection of a shade tree, or indoors where it is cool because of air conditioned air!  Why?  We don't want to fry to a crisp in the hot sun, nor do we enjoy the draining feeling the heat produces on our bodies.  We "go to" shelter because we see something in our lives as a "threat" or "nuisance". We want to avoid whatever it is and so we take shelter from it.  I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing to do - for shelter is often the exact opposite of remaining in harm's way! Live under the protection  of God Most High  and stay in the shadow  of God All-Powerful. ...

I work for a living - how about you?  Every two weeks, a direct deposit hits my checking account in the form a what others call a paycheck.  For the work I have performed, I receive payment, a form of "reward" for what it is I do for the company I work for.  Notice, the payment is a reward for something I have done.  It is a result of working toward something - not a gift.  If it was a gift, I could go about my own business and just goof off as much as I wanted, not even going into work at all on days when I didn't feel like it.  Some individuals do what is referred to as "piece work" - their payment is solely based on the number of widgets, garments, or items they produce in the given amount of time.  The more they produce, the better their payment.  Others have a set income based on fair market analysis of what that job is worth to the community the individual serves.  Still others have negotiated what they believe to be a fair compensatio...