Obsession
If a person becomes obsessed with money, sex, power, ideology or ‘self’, then a pandora’s box of dangers is opened up. Indulging in these leads to destructive forces of greed, compulsive pornography, jealousies and even murderous thoughts.
Tag: holiness
IDOLS
Imagine seeing the world the wrong way round! George Malcolm Stratton (1865 – 1957) was an American psychologist who wanted to know what would happen to the brain’s perception if he could turn normal vision upside down. Wearing special glasses called ‘invertoscopes’ for 8 days that did this, he discovered that his brain could adjust to the upside world and make it seem normal!
Washed Clean
Any idea how long you spend cleaning whether that be personal hygiene, vacuuming, housework, the car or garden path? Some estimates are at least 10 hours a week which is more than 200 weeks for a person living to the age of 70. Power washing is a satisfying experience but no matter how clean you get the path, it doesn’t take long for it to become dirty once again. Even if you do a very thorough Spring-clean removing all the ‘hard-to-get’ cobwebs, those spiders are watching and their webs will be back, never mind the other crumbs and detritus. Take your finger nails – while short-clipped nails show an average of 370 germ colonies, even samples taken from underneath chewed nails showed an average of 16.6 germ colonies. Bugs and dirt seem to be part of life. And then there’s dealing with the soil of the soul that also comes through daily grind.
- ‘At the end of the day, I have to wash my face. I hate going to bed after a long day not washing my face. It's something I've grown into. When I was younger, I didn't care’ – Selena Gomez
- ‘We are washed both on coming into the world and on going out of it, and we take no pleasure from the first washing nor any profit from the last’ – James Stephens
Careless Words
Even the kindest souls can do it and probably we’ve all done it at some time or another – used words carelessly. Rather than thinking first, we speak and then think later. It might be an on-the-spur-of-the-moment quip at someone else’s expense or an outburst of irritation that sends words like heat-seeking missiles and the damage is done. The result? A look of pain on the face of the person receiving it or bringing a sharp repost and a cooling in a relationship as trust feels damaged. Regret will follow but if words are tossed around like matches, eventually they will find something to ignite and a measure of destruction begins. Words are not to be used to harm others as a fencer gone berserk might use a sword lacerating all those around or as lighted matches thrown carelessly. Maybe you’ve been on the receiving end more recently than being the one discharging those sharp words. Either way, reflect a little on the way you’ve given and received words for their impact is considerable.
- ‘Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will make me go in a corner and cry by myself for hours’ – Eric Idle
- ‘Insults, like arrows, can pierce through the heart and bring you down to your knees’ – from a poem by ‘Fancy-Girl’
Portals
Mortals love portals! Technically speaking, on the one hand portals refer to gateways, doors and openings. On the other, a portal specifically means a website or web page providing access or links to other sites. It is a word that has grown in popularity and breadth of application to include video games and various secure log-in technologies. How do you understand the word? What portals would you say that you use or rely on for your everyday life or for the deeper things? With the rapid changes, today’s technology will be yesterday’s technology tomorrow! You need multiple connections to keep up but even those portals for mortals are soon out of date.
- ‘A portal is a transitionary device of sight or sound that functions as a sort of third gravitating body between the this and the that, pulling us toward itself, allowing us to bridge into the unknown from the known’ – Roy H Williams
In a heartbeat
How much do you know about your heart? It began beating before you were born, 22 days after you were conceived! Your heart beats about 100,000 times in one day and about 35 million times in a year. During an average lifetime, the human heart will beat more than 2.5 billion times. The human heart has been described as ‘very deep’ which maybe apt when you consider its ability to pump 2,000 gallons per day. An Olympic swimming pool holds about 450,000 gallons so it takes a heart 220 days to pump this! In 70 years, a heart pumps 51,100,000 gallons – this is an amazing 114 swimming pools so it’s not surprising we can get a bit weary with every extra year! The heart has inspired poets, lovers, writers, scientists and philosophers. Aristotle identified it as ‘the seat of the soul and emotions’. How much can happen in a heartbeat?