What Is Up With This World?

It was a relatively uneventful trip to work this morning, despite the heavy fog and hazardous roadway conditions. I am trying to begin my weekend on a positive note, but first, I want to share just a few things I have come to realize in recent years. You may not agree, but that is alright - I know these things to be true and I base these on personal experience. Here goes:

- JEALOUSY/BACKSTABBING/BETRAYAL: People will do to you what you allow them to do to you. By that, I mean that if they can “get over” on you, most of them will. You need not even supply an opportunity – for that type of folks, the opportunity will present itself to them. It becomes your duty to recognize it and cut it off at the pass, so to speak. While there are still a few people in this world who have morals and ethics, those are few and far between. Always be straight up and forthright, but know that a great percentage of the world around you is not going to afford you the same courtesy and respect – or anything that even somewhat resembles that. Be cognizant of that fact, while understanding that you have to always be mindful that no one is watching your back, except for you and the man upstairs. No one else is going to do it for you. You just may be fortunate enough to have a friend or two in this world who is willing to watch yours, but keep in mind that he or she should be focusing on watching their own first.

Watch each and every step that you make, for you never know when your actions will come back to haunt you. Of course, you must do this while continuing yourself to do what you know is right; just because there are those who do wrong, does not mean you should count yourself among them. Unfortunately, it is the way of the world, so get used to it. Psalm 54 below is a nice little prayer to say when you have done what you can and can do nothing else, but let it go.

Psalm 54

1 Save me, O God, by your name; vindicate me by your might.
2 Hear my prayer, O God; listen to the words of my mouth.
3 Strangers are attacking me; ruthless men seek my life - men without regard for God.
Selah
4 Surely God is my help; the Lord is the one who sustains me.
5 Let evil recoil on those who slander me; in your faithfulness destroy them.
6 I will sacrifice a freewill offering to you; I will praise your name, O LORD, for it is good.
7 For he has delivered me from all my troubles, and my eyes have looked in triumph on my foes.

- MATERIALISM/STATUS SYMBOLS: “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”- Matthew 6:19-21

This is probably one of the most important things to keep in mind, as well. You can have all of the material items in the world that one could want, and be the most miserable human being on the planet. On the flip side of that, you could have all of those things and be a great person, yet just the fact that you are surrounded by so much can take you away from the real objective. Just like the verse above states, things here on earth can be ruined in a heartbeat, but if we store up our treasures in Heaven, we will eventually have everything we ever would need or want. Our lives here on earth may not be good or even lukewarm, but rest assured that if we make it to the Promised Land, we will have more than we ever imagined. You can have a Rolex, a Jacob, a Bentley, and the most beautiful jewelry, homes and wardrobe that money could buy, but that makes you no closer to heaven than the homeless man standing on the street corner begging for some change. That’s real and you can believe that.

These are just a few things that I thought of as I drove to work this morning. Without a lot of hectic traffic jams, you can have time to think and during my time of reflection, I told myself that I was going to reflect on the important things in my life – not things that too long ago I thought were important and now know that they mean absolutely nothing in the bigger scheme of things – and not the things of hurt and regret from the past, of what could have been, would have been, should have been . . . I used to daydream about driving that fancy car with the humongous, shiny wheels while I was pulling up to my sprawling mansion; I used to daydream about traveling all over the world and being able to purchase anything I want; I used to daydream about being like a couple of old friends who can to this day walk into any designer store and purchase whatever they wanted without having to give it a second thought; I used to daydream about a lot of things until I realized how rich I truly am without all of those things. Now I realize how very wealthy I am with the few non-material things with which I have been abundantly blessed: 1) My parents & family (that includes Mr. Hebert); 2) A few good friends that lasted the test of time (Natalie, Ike, Arthel, Mauricha, & my entire church/Cursillo/BSF family); 3) Mikosanostra, the Da Don Mob Kitty; 4) Mr. Hebert; 5) A career which is stressful & frustrating, yet extremely rewarding just the same – I have been blessed to be doing very near what I set out to do some twenty-some years ago & I have learned things along the way about people and life, which are absolutely priceless; and last but certainly not least - 6) My uncanny ability to analyze obscure situations & piece together even the most minute of details to form a completely correct theory on just about any situation – that and my strangely accurate photographic memory – a most acutely accurate recollection of just about anything and everything. Those are my treasures.

It took me thirty-eight years to realize all of the things posted above, but only a short 3½ day weekend to come to terms with it (Cursillo #121 – the best one yet, at that point in time).

I hope your weekend starts out great. Thanks for tuning in!