True power and success have only one source, one ultimate Source. There are many false senses of power: physical strength, emotional manipulation, mental fortitude, just to name a few. However, these forms of control can only be sustained through guilt, fear, and personal determination. When the flesh gets weak, or is perceived as weak, pseudo-power vanishes as a puff of smoke into the air.
How does true power differ from pseudo-power? True power persists in the presence of weakness. In fact, true power is most magnificently perceived in the absence of strength, manipulation, and fortitude. True power exposes the innermost convictions of the heart, mind, and spirit. True power supplies a strength that exceedingly surpasses brute force. True power provides a conviction that is more convincing than superficial influences. True power fortifies the mind against unseen vexations. There are multiple ways to obtain pseudo-power, but true power can only be acquired through maintaining a clear connection to the Source of all power.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Why I’m a Christian
I did not become a Christian because some tragedy or extreme trial placed me in a moment of weakness where I searched desperately for some type of purpose or higher power to comfort me in my time of need. I did not become a Christian because I was blindly following the path of my parents, the churches we attended, or the way I was raised to believe about faith. I do not follow a system of folk theology that only deals with how I feel and what I need to believe is true. I question my faith. I doubt the answers that other men tout off at me. I examine explanations and pursue the discovery of rightness for myself. What I have found is a deep, unshakable conviction that there is an intelligent energy of ultimate perfection in all that is good, beautiful, and true, of which I am a part. I believe this energy created everything in existence, that all matter is simply energy in slow motion, that all of our senses and perceptions stem from the unique pattern of energy which forms each individual soul. I believe this energy is love and has therefore given us the ability to give and receive love. As individual patterns of energy we are finite subsets of the infinite being. This infinite being I call God. I believe the Bible is a collection of inspired writings, composing one over-arching message, which serves to connect the finite with the infinite. We each have the ability to choose to embrace the power, goodness, and inspiration of the infinite or to rely completely on our finite memories, habits, and desires to guide us through life. I choose to seek the infinite perspective because I’d rather live in surrendered cooperation than in stubborn obstinace, though I often tend to find myself reverting to the latter in spite of my best intentions.