There is a song entitled, 'Be Careful What You Wish For' ...and though this song has its fair amount of emotion, it is not unlike many songs, which are talking primarily about a man and woman, and often their failed relationship.
Often the songs try to dispense a bit of wisdom to the extent of 'live & learn'.
And regret is also a common theme. "And you can't get her back no more ...", is one of the lines in this song.
I worked in a Mental Health facility, Fairlawn Center, the children's division of the greater adult division, Clinton Valley Center, in Pontiac, Michigan.
One event that I found humor in, was when they decided to have a prom. I thought they were making too much of the competitive drama that often unfolds with high school kids. This was particularly evident when I decided to draw a big poster of the young lion cub from one of the patient's favorite movies, 'The Lion King'. And at the top of the poster I wrote, "I just can't wait to be King!" (King of the prom, that is.) And below, I wrote "Vote for Paul ..."
Paul would have been in high school, and though he was a full-grown teenager in size, he had medical complications at birth, and his brain had not developed beyond a three-year-old. But, he was a happy young man ...and I thought that it would eliminate the unhealthy drama, by allowing them to potentially vote unselfishly. But, one of the organizers (supervisor) decided that she liked the drama, and no way supported that idea ...and she took the poster down.
Where's the humor in all that ...well, there's none as far as I'm concerned, but as usual, I'm taking a long time getting to my point. And I will clarify that this prom was not just for high school kids ...it was for pre-teens also.
As I recall, this is how it came down:
An eleven-year-old boy with a gleam in his eye approaches a ten-year-old girl, "Will you go to the prom with me?"
Girl: "I wouldn't go out with you if you were the last person on earth! I'd go out with the Hunchback before I'd go out with you!"
The boy walks away ...and I feel sorry for him. Rejection can be a difficult thing to deal with ...and most of the kids in the facility have had their share of it. I'm thinking of all this when the young boy returns with a pillow under his shirt on the back of one shoulder, and he is dragging one foot.
Boy (with a curled lip): "Well, if you won't go out with him ...will you go out with me?"
She still rejected him ...but, I had renewed hope for that young man.
The facility closed three years after public domain was announced with the World Wide Web ...a few years before the internet picked up steam. So, there is not much information ...other than a few pictures and video showing how the facility was left in ruins (Facebook ...Fairlawn Center Pontiac, Michigan ...children's psychiatric facility).
And there are a few other sketchy references to be found ...yet, even the remaining ruins have since been leveled and cleaned up. I hope several lives were able to turn around, and not be left in ruins. There were patients who were renowned for having lives looked down upon, far more revolting than the popularized Hunchback, but in the Book of Isaiah, Chapter 55, we see that God's thoughts are not our thoughts; neither are our ways, His ways. And as looked down upon as a person can be, God's shows the way, so His Spirit can come into our thoughts and heart.
Enough background ...my reference was that there was a school for the children there ...and I felt the teachers were quite good. One class period a pamphlet of short stories was distributed, one of which comes to mind, a short-story called 'The Wish-Giver'. There were three parts to it, but I am only going to summarize the one. Unlike the Genie in the story of Aladdin, this Wish-Giver could make someone fall in love. There are multiple listings on the internet, by different authors, whether 'Wishgiver' is one word, two words, or whether it is hyphenated ...but, I couldn't find the one I was looking for, yet this is what I recall, in the following paragraph:
The Wish-Giver had a sign outside an old abandoned house. Down a dilapidated stairway, and to a dimly lit basement, the man was asked to stop ...the voice coming from a figure hidden in the shadows. The man's wish was something like this: "I wish for the most beautiful female that you have ever set eyes upon to fall madly in love with me." And so the wish was granted by the dragon who came into the dim light ...followed by a female dragon that pinned the man in a corner, smothering him with dragon drool and killer kisses. She was the most beautiful female the male dragon had ever seen.
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Whether it is a heartfelt song, or a wishful story, often there is regret ...wishing those moments back, to be able to do it over again.
And though we don't find ourselves like Phil in 'Groundhog Day' ...we can change, not the day we have already lived, but the way we live the next day. We can attempt to make life more pleasant not just for ourselves, but everybody else too.
Though sometimes that does not appear to be an accurate reality. Sometimes it seems we have little control over how we live. There is horrific and violent abuse in this world ...and though we know where much of it is, we don't know where much of it is. Those tortured victims often wonder how they survived the previous day, and they have little hope the next day will be much different. They used to have dreams like we all do ...but, they can't even have little dreams anymore. Everything seems like a continuous nightmare. They have no hope for today, or for the next.
They used to dream of being saved from it all ...swept away by a huge bird, and carried off somewhere, anywhere. Anywhere ...just not where they now are, and never to return.
That's all they ever knew. They were never told of a future hope ...they never knew salvation was real, or that there is something beyond this life. They never heard about Jesus.
The only relationships they ever knew were real, were really bad ones.
And yes, it is much about relationships ...you could say it's all about relationships. But it's not about the type usually sung about in songs, romanced in novels, or viewed across the movie screen. Nor is it about those feared relationships, or the horror those type of movies try to duplicate. These all exist ...yet, they will not exist for eternity.
We do need to understand though ...that we do exist for eternity, and that eternity makes all the difference.
My focus turns now (March 2022) to the area of Ukraine.
There are many Bible-believing Christians in Ukraine, and for those of us who also believe in prayer ...we are praying for those in Ukraine.
Those of us who have a mindset for embracing God's love, we may feel rather helpless as we watch things unfold ...but, we aren't helpless. We turn to God, and ask for a peaceful outcome with this conflict.
Why is it difficult to establish peace?? Well, a proud leader who feels he must maintain his power, or 'save face' ...that leader often does not seek peace, and clearly is not seeking the One who is peace.
And yet, there is the 'LARGER' issue.
Those of you who believe in an afterlife (and eternity) will understand a bit more what I'm trying to say.
I'm trying not to be cliche. There are those who don't believe in God. And within that group, there are those who don't seem interested in the least, in hearing about Him. Others are not so passive, as they actively oppose the beliefs of those who profess a conviction about what they feel is true concerning the Bible. (And a few of you may yet have your own version of a Saul/Paul conversion, but most of you who oppose God, sadly continue to.) Yet, for those who have a portion of belief, that mustard seed can grow, but it often doesn't ...and there still often remains a struggle, inflicting much pain..
We may look at the conditions of the afterlife ...those lingering thoughts as we attend a funeral home service for a loved one or a friend. God gave us these emotions, and He wants us to love not only our loved ones, but also our neighbor as ourselves. And with all these mixed feelings, we are faced with considering mortality and immortality. Some people view immortality as lasting fame or glory ...yet, beyond social media or the internet, there is something much bigger than us. And that is what defines our future standing within the far-reaching realm of eternity.
Sadly, there are those who can only express what is wrong with what they term 'religion'. And they are not discerning when introducing stereotypes by their qualifying statements ...as if all religions are the same. And they also claim that throughout history, religion has been the cause of most wars.
Yes, religion has been involved in many wars. In the Old Testament of the Bible we read of God's direction to confront the enemy on the battlefield, yet Jesus came to do battle for us ...giving us victory in a way that was not anticipated by most. More often conflicts in the past couple thousand years have been incited by misdirected authority, certainly not through a faith which Jesus has instructed us to have. Jesus asked us to surrender to Him, to give us victory on the battlefield within our hearts. Jesus did not approve of violent opposition ...clearly we see how Jesus did not even approve of Peter cutting off a soldier's ear.
We can keep bringing up past events, but if we accept the way Jesus has shown us, and move forward ...yes, that would be what we are called to do. Spreading the Gospel to all nations is not remotely leading to war. And I don't believe religion is causing the conflict in Ukraine. It would rather seem a lack of belief in God by the aggressors.
Yet, during those horrific moments like we witnessed throughout World War II, the aggressors needed to be stopped. At what point they needed to be confronted, is difficult to discern without God speaking to us directly ...and sometimes our compromise and inaction in the name of negotiations fall short.
In the Book of Judges we see how inaction resulted in turning a blind eye to what was happening in the tribe of Benjamin.
So, to remedy what had gone wrong, the other eleven tribes of the children of Israel asked God who should go first, leading into battle ...and God said, Judah.
These eleven tribes suffered defeat, so they again inquired of God whether they should go into battle again ...and God said yes.
The eleven tribes suffered defeat again ...then asking God at that point whether they should go to war, or not. At that moment God told the eleven tribes to go, and they would have victory this time.
It seems humankind started the 'blame game' in the Garden of Eden, yet each generation appears to do this to some extent. The children of Israel were slow to admit their portion of blame for the tribe of Benjamin, so when the eleven tribes decided they were going to fix it by doing battle, it seems like God wanted to impress upon them that they should have dealt with it much before this moment. The second time was like speaking the obvious, whether they should go into battle. The third time seemed like a sincere question, asking God whether they should do the thing they felt they should do at this late stage of the game. But, it was no game, and God said they would have victory at that point.
All throughout the Book of Judges, we find constant conflict between those who believed in God, and those who opposed God.
What would this world look like if only a scarce few believed in God??
" ...the wickedness of man was great, and every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually." ---describing the time of Noah.
Do we need to know the details of how it was during that time, or is that description in Genesis 6:5 clear enough??
Do you want to live in a world like that??
The Bible reports that Jesus said 'end times' would be similar to the times of Noah ...not similar by how He responds, but how humankind behaves. And that is a sad state of affairs.
For those who don't believe in God, I would guess you believe everyone will just eventually die ...and that's it, nothing more.
For those of us who believe in God, our views of the afterlife have many dissimilar images, as we are not given much description on that. My image goes beyond simply viewing Heaven as not being the same as our present earth ...but it starts there. And how I imagine entering Heaven depends much upon how I view God ...which I must honestly say, is wonderful
To be clear, I also firmly believe Heaven won't be run like many people fear it will be. Freedom of choice exists, yet anyone in Heaven, in advance, would have freely chosen to be there.
And the choice that is freely made, I believe is made by us choosing whether we want to follow God.
At times we don't follow close enough, and we may feel a bit lost, but all we need to do is call out to Him.
Do any of you have a reason why you don't want to follow Him at this moment??
I don't always understand Him, but I trust Him, and His Word ...and I am grateful for His promises.
Do you also trust Him enough to want to spend eternity with Him??
Is there any clear reason why you'd want to spend eternity someplace else??
And are you that certain that your perception matches reality??
It's not really about being careful what we wish for ...it's about being careful what we choose.
