Responses (to an inconsistency)
that are most helpful, seem to me to be
from least to most (to give the benefit..
that’s of the doubtful situation you
are in, if you do not know quite just who
has engineered the inconsistency
or who’s to blame for how it’s come to me
and whether who has pitched the ball to hit
is doing the best job that they could do?
To team with God who loves to love, & woo
unless he must, to keep his own word to
humanity, allow someone to choose
the way they should be heard and judged, to wit
“their own judgement of others” is the true
way, if they are a god whose job’s to do
the judging now. Their own judgment will do
for model of, how they should be judged too.
And if the shoe, or glove, fits, then wear it.
Oh God, I thank you now for this good loo
to sit and (s)t(h)ink on now, ()it’s come here to
the point that I’m now in. I will learn to
be as you helped me see last night ensue-
ing time with friend upon the street and sit-
ing in the house before that. I thank you
for insight gained, so when I'm named to do
responding; now I see you took into
account my biggest need. Again “Thank you!”
I’m glad you saw my weakness, sent spirit:
your own presence, your breath, your wind blows to
help move me, in the way and words of who
you picked as Leader of Humanity,
the Christ of God, the word on all, it’s he
who teaches still): to Counter, question it
(first Closed, then Open), state what I assume
(the Worst, or Best) - might save me from my doom°.
Footnotes
* I recently saw what I took for an inconsistency in a wording of, or statement of, the Faith that I adhere to. I saw numerous ways of re-wording it, and felt impatient towards the mindsets and ignorance of those who had blithely claimed the upper hand and knowledge, or had in a utilitarian methodology, just signed it, thus undercutting any real usefulness the document could have confirmed: in listening, and presenting, and wrestling, with God through the scriptures [instead of simply imbibing and reproducing “the ….. traditions passed on to us by our forefathers” (1Pet 1:18-19)].
In the plan and purposes of God, for my real growth and development, he gave me an opportunity to grow, to understand much better the issue being worded, and to grow myself in ways I have been asking God for the last 7 years, to help me to grow - to be less combative, and more gracious. For me, this is a culmination of that.
There were many options for making the statement to be true, some adding a word or words, some adjusting a word or words, some deleting a word or words. In previous renditions (I had to sign it every year) I had given more of a rationale, and outlined various options for adjusting it. Nothing had changed. This time I simply took one option and gave it as an example as to how it could be fixed. That simple option was to delete the word “alone” which was itself deleting four other valid expressions according to clear, obvious, well known scriptures quoted by many of the staff over the last 10 years during which I had been associated with this Christian group. I judged that even without the word I had put a line through, the rest of the sentence still communicated the necessity of the majorly important mechanism for testing and approving what God’s will is. But my methodology (though copying God’s way of letting us set the scene for the way we are to be judged) maybe forgot that I was also setting the scene for the way I am to be judged in the much bigger picture. Yes, I see a way that has more grace now:
Instead of choosing an option that could be perceived as simply being combative, a) crossing out a word that I thought was offending, I could have simply circled the word and written beside it b) some closed questions, or c) some open questions, or d) outlined my worst assumptions, or e) something outlining my best assumptions of those who designed and then signed it. The last option (e) is much more gracious than the first option (a).
It is easy to do e) above, now that I have spent maybe 20 hours becoming aware of what good things they were aiming at, and what they were not thinking about when they still clearly said it.
Now I would say:
In the context of this group’s history, I am going to assume that by the use of this word “only” in the sentence as it stands, the original writers of this document & and the current ratifiers of this document, did not mean, a).., b).., c).., or d)...
[Which, after spending time with most of the staff there, and past board members who probably wrote the document, and observing their praxis, over the last ten years, I really do assume]
Then (as I did each year), sign it.
This might still cause a problem for people with a certain mindset, who feel constrained by systems and the ways of life handed on to us by our forefathers, but it would be much less likely to have been interpreted as simply recalcitrant, or combative.
What an important lesson. Oh God, please help me now to actually learn this, for the rest of my life.
° “Be careful how you think. Your life is shaped by your thoughts. Never say anything that isn’t true. Have nothing to do with lies or misleading words. Look straight ahead with honest confidence, don’t hang your head in shame. ….. Avoid evil, and walk straight ahead. Don’t go one step off the right way.” (Prov 4:23-27 GNB)
“He also said to them, “Pay attention to what you hear! The same rules you use to judge others will be used by God to judge you — but with even greater severity.” (Mark 4:24 GNB)
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