Perseverance - Curt Thompson

 Curt Thompson the deepest place

The trouble for

Me is that it seems just plain hard. I’m really not interested   I want the reward that perseverance allegedly promises. I just don’t want to persevere in order to receive it. To persevere requires hard work. It involves not only changing external behaviors that give short term coping strategies but also retelling the stories we have believed and told about ourselves. 

The mindset of “I am in my own” is far more pervasive and destructive than we realize, contributing to our suffering in the first place. It stands as a significant principality or power. 

Part of the mindset of feeling alone is believing that I’m unwantable. If I allow people to come close to me, they will inevitably leave. It’s far better to never allow anyone to come to close so that I can protect myself from the experience of being left. 

The more I hide my insecurities and vulnerable side, the more alone I feel. Moses began his adult life with anger, killing the Egyptian. His anger, despite being humble as a strong leader, resurfaces when he struck the rock in anger. His anger may have boiled underneath as an adopted Hebrew. 

Todd Billings writes about lament and how it shakes who we become and the work of perseverance. Liz Hall suggests that lament includes the three part process of complaint, petition and praise, core elements of developing a secure sense of attachment. Lament allows us to sense God acknowledging our deepest places of alienation, deepest places of loss, deepest pain - and to come to realize God’s live deeper than we could expect. Page 123

The lament of perseverance is our commitment to be Wilke g to enter a cycle of grief. Grief names our stories of loss. 

Wisdom 5

 The uncertainty of wealth could drive a person into deep anxiety. But the Scriptures strongly teach what our priorities should be and need to be. Our wealth is measured by eternal treasures that give hope and purpose for each day. We can drive ourselves into despair by the way we think and talk to ourselves each day. Or we can remind ourselves all the time about who we trust. He is far more trustworthy than what we see in this world. 

“The things you say to you about yourself, about God, and about life are very, very important because they are formative of the way you act and react to the things that God places in your life. In those silent and private conversations that you have with you, you are remembering God’s grace or you’re not. When you remember God’s grace, you tell yourself that you’re not alone, that you’re not left to the small batch of your own resources, and that you have been graced with all that you need right here, right now to be what God has called you to be and to do what God has chosen for you to do. When you remember God’s grace, you are also reminded of his presence and his promises. Ultimately, human rest is not found in measuring the size of your righteousness, strength, and wisdom against the size of what you’re facing. No, rest is found when you compare the size of what you’re facing to the person, presence, character, power, and grace of the One who is with you wherever you go.” - Paul David Tripp, New Morning Mercies: A Daily Gospel Devotional

Wisdom - short life

 

Moses prays: “Teach us Lord to number our days (Ps. 90).”  Paul challenges us to “redeem the time (Eph. 5).”  James says, “you don’t know what your life will look like tomorrow (4).” Solomon says, “life is a vapor (Ecc.).” Your life will soon be gone, don't waste it. Jonny Ardavanas

Life lessons I wish I knew years ago: (Vala Afahar)

   1 lost money can be found; lost time is lost forever 

2 to learn, unlearn, relearn and then change yourself is a superpower  

3 you are not your job 

4 networking is about giving 

5 the best teacher is your last mistake 

6 good manners is as important as good education 

7 do not take your good health for granted 

8 be a better friend and value relationships  

9 if you are waiting for a title to lead, you are not ready to lead 

10 a work sponsor is more important than a mentor 

11 a good story is data with a soul  

12 stop worrying about what others think of you 

13 if you want an easier life, work on harder problems 

14 best teachers are life long students 

15 imposter syndrome is real, and a good thing 

16 fight against a sense of entitlement 

17 half the battle is showing up 

18 love and cherish your parents by giving them your time 

19 success is not accidental 

20 the best views are there for those who love the climb 

21 lucky people work harder 

22 takers may end up with more, but givers sleep better at night 

23 memorizing is not learning 

24 it is okay to look back, just don’t stare 

25 knowing is not acting - I can > IQ

26 straight roads do not make great drivers 

27 good listeners hear the unsaid (listen with your eyes)

28 be the person that you want to follow 

29 do not limit your contribution to a job description 30 take care of your parents - the best gift that you can give yourself  

31 customer service is not a department 

32 in the long run, the optimists create the future  

33 never ruin an apology with excuses 

34 salary is for expenses. equity is wealth - do not rent your time. 

35 do not take a caring boss, joyful work or steady income for granted 

36 as you get older, you love your parents more 

37 challenge assumptions, starting with your own 

38 we learn more from disagreements 

39 best gift you can give yourself is quality time with parents 

40 the older you get the less you care about what others think of you 

41 be a good person but do not waste time trying to prove it  

42 be comfortable with saying ‘I don’t know’ - there are no experts of tomorrow  

43 being self-aware is a key to learning and growth; know yourself 

44 first, invest in yourself, then help others win 

45 if the answer is no, do not say maybe or yes  

46 Don’t just translate, write something new and original; write for yourself - writing improves your thinking 

47 It’s more important to do the right thing than to win an argument 

48 do not buy your children what you never had, teach them what you never knew  

49 begin with the end in mind 

50 to make progress on your to-do list, you must also keep a to-don’t list 

51 leave everything and everyone better than you found them  

52 be kind and polite to everyone

53 Here’s how luck finds you: 

—Work harder than expected  

—Stay teachable 

—Give without expecting a get 

—Read and write more 

—Show up on time 

—Focus on your customers 

—Develop good manners 

—Be humble 

—Be kind and generous 

—Surround yourself with smarter people

54 The bosses we remember: 

—provided us a safe space to grow 

—opened career doors 

—defended us when we needed it 

—recognized and rewarded us 

—developed us as leaders 

—inspired us to stretch higher 

—led by example 

—told us our work mattered 

—forgave us when we made mistakes  

55 The older you get, the more quiet you become. Life humbles you so deeply as you age. You realize how much nonsense you’ve wasted time on.

56 Hire based on high rate of learning and good judgment

57 straight lines do not make great drivers

58 stand in the middle of the road for too long and you may get hit from both sides - be decisive 

59 if you do not know the answer, it is okay to say 'I don't know, but I will find out'

60 do not follow or admire mean people - be the person that you would want to follow

61 the decisions you made 5-10 years ago shaped where you are today; decisions you make now will shape where you’ll be in 5-10 years

Bible 1-20

Anyone can easily ruin their life by making decisions that get us off track. Maturity and growth is a community project. If we want to live our lives with meaning and purpose, we need to recognize that self sufficiency and independence can lead us astray. Sticking to our commitments is an inner resolve but we need each other to keep on keeping on. I wonder if Joseph had anyone to rely on when he was falsely accused, abandoned and forgotten. Evidently he had an intense relationship with God and knew that He would bring good out of bad. Yet he also wanted to live his life with no regrets. Lots to think about. 

Knowing God, Tozer

 How can we know God?

“The answer of the Bible is simply "through Jesus Christ our Lord." In Christ and 

by Christ, God effects complete self-disclosure, although He shows Himself not 

to reason but to faith and love. Faith is an organ of knowledge, and love an 

organ of experience. God came to us in the incarnation; in atonement He 

reconciled us to Himself, and by faith and love we enter and lay hold on Him.”

“Charles Wesley 

exclaimed,

Glory thine attributes confess,

Glorious all and numberless.

True, these men were worshiping, not counting; but we might be wise to follow 

the insight of the enraptured heart rather than the more cautious reasonings of 

the theological mind. If an attribute is something that is true of God, we may 

as well not try to enumerate them.”

Excerpt From

The Knowledge of the Holy

A.W. Tozer

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-knowledge-of-the-holy/id552778156

This material may be protected by copyright.

Excerpt From

The Knowledge of the Holy

A.W. Tozer

https://books.apple.com/us/book/the-knowledge-of-the-holy/id552778156

This material may be protected by copyright.

Dorothy Day

 Like Dorothy Day, we need to raise our true fears and insecurities to God, praying, over and over again: “I’m afraid! I feel so alone and isolated in this! I don’t want to do this! I’m completely inadequate! I haven’t any strength left! I’m full of anger! I’m bitter at so many things! I hate some of the places where my Christian morality has led me! I’m jealous of others who don’t have my moral inhibitions! I’m tempted in ways that I’m ashamed to speak of! I need more support than you’ve been giving me! Send me someone or send me something! If you want me to continue on this road you’ve got to give me more help! I need this now!”

We all have our moments of chaos and crisis. Loss, death, sickness, disappointment, hurt, loneliness, hatred, jealousy, obsession, fear—these come into our lives and often we find ourselves overwhelmed by the darkness they cause. What can we do about them? How can we pull ourselves out of the dark chaos they put us into? The simple answer of course is prayer. But that answer is sometimes given too simplistically. We all have heard the phrases, so true in themselves: “Pray it through! Take your troubles to the chapel! Give it to God! God will help you!” I can speak only for myself, though I suspect that my experience has its parallels in other lives, and I have found that often when I try to pray through some deep hurt, I find no relief and, at times, end up more depressed, more immersed in the chaos, and more obsessively self-preoccupied than before praying. Often I end up sucking God into my obsession rather than opening my obsession to God.”

Sometimes when loneliness, depression, and chaos would threaten to overwhelm him, Nouwen would go to a friend’s house and ask that friend to hold him while he cried. Not an easy thing to do, but in that there is a lesson: when we stare life’s chaos and our own demons fully in the face, someone or something had better be holding us, or that darkness can just as easily destroy us as make us stronger.

Excerpt From

Sacred Fire

Ronald Rolheiser

https://books.apple.com/us/book/sacred-fire/id777330483

This material may be protected by copyright.

Bible 1-19

 I’m wondering if we minimize the power of God working behind the scene. If He created everything, yet allows us to make decisions, could He move people into place and change events to make His plan unfold. He allows us to participate yet see how great He really is. I often discount what He is doing, and wallow in my complaints, frustrated that change does not happen on my time schedule. Without God, I can become very frustrated and disappointed. I become discouraged if I just listen to the negativity. I want to become more hopeful in 2024, anticipating the good that God is always doing.