Our Recurring Examination

Yes it’s that time again. Before we move ahead, we pause, reflect and review the week that was here along our shared path, we call “Becoming Today”.

Monday’s discussion called for action. “Accept Yourself” may be one of those things that sounds easier than they really are. Nevertheless, accepting ourselves is an integral part of “Becoming”. 

Accepting our strengths rather than empowering our perceived weaknesses, accepting our unlimited potential rather than self imposing limitations.

Our reality is one of always “Becoming”…. Restating our shared definition from Day One of this project:  ‘’the process of coming to be something or of passing into a state”. Coming to be always, “Becoming”. Growing, developing and shifting into an attitude and daily practice of always, “Becoming”.

That is quite simply the essence behind, “Becoming Today”.  Now getting there requires planning, action and growth plus accepting ourselves.

Each day I ask myself, how do I, as an individual and we as a society, focus on “Becoming” what we are truly destined to be? How do we become all we can be? How do we further enrich our lives and those of our families, friends, communities and society as a whole?  What exactly is it we want to become today? Each and every day, becoming the best at whatever we desire, hope for, have set goals for, prayed for  and how do we achieve this state? 

Here are the 8 steps of acceptance that I’ve learned along my path towards “Becoming”:  

•  Accept Yourself. Embrace the ability to unconditionally love all aspects of who you are. Both the positive and negative.Do not become overly critical.  It all starts with the proper attitude.        
• Accept that Accepting Reality is not the easiest thing to do. However acceptance of your current scenario will ultimately make you happier in the present , which then leads  to a better future. Accepting your reality will help you choose your steps properly and keep the momentum moving forward and upward.
• Accept Truthful and Complete Honesty. When you get past your ego, then you can allow for the creation of a beautiful new you. Denial will not make the negative go away. 

• Accept Personal Responsibility.  In order to fully accept your reality, you must take ownership of any role you may have played, good or bad, in leading you to where you are.  When you do, then you can work on decisions for the next steps.
• Accept Your Mistakes. You can’t fix anything until you acknowledge you have a problem. Look at your mistakes not as failures but as learning opportunities. Rely on the power within for the strength to co-create your reality.
• Accept  Ownership. Own all of it. Not just the challenges but also your strengths and success. Taking ownership of all your outcomes can teach you to do better, and that overcoming leads to a learning moment.
• Accept Power Over Your Fears. Do not let fear rule. Fears of what others think of you, fear of making a decision, fear of not being popular, is all demoralizing. It adds nothing to your experience. Realize that “they” will criticize, judge you, or ridicule you no matter what, so who cares?
• Accept Goal Setting and Planning.  Clearly state your intention, desires and establish standards and practices. Ensure you have small steps in the plan to allow for immediate and quick accountability. Stick to it. “Becoming” can truly begin to happen once you have a plan with specific goals.

Then on Tuesday, we undertook a discussion based around a common scenario. If you are telling yourself  you are ready to move on from a negative  experience, but still are  not sure how to get started, here are some steps to assist you in letting go. 

You can not create a state of “Becoming”, if you aren’t willing to let the former or current  realities go. Letting Go is our focus now on “Becoming Today.”

It’s something we have all had to ask ourselves, multiple times. Some more than others, but nonetheless it is simply a part of the human condition.When we suffer emotional pain, how do you let go of the past and move on?

First you need to accept that it is a conscious decision. One that involves taking action. Holding on to the past is just like letting go and moving forward you decide . It’s your choice. Once you make the decision then you take action to make it happen. 

To me it seems the best way  to heal is by learning a lesson from the situation, then using it to be “Becoming”.  Channel your thoughts, intentions, desires and energies into focusing on growth and building that momentum that moves both forward and upward. 

Do not get stuck in the “coulda, woulda, shoulda” mentality. Hanging onto to what should have happened, what could have happened, or what you wished would have happened, give yourself motivation to get over it. Release it and heal. Or keep a grip on it and be paralyzed; immobilized by feelings of pain and bad memories.

Wednesday we continued our midweek odyssey. Our extended search and rescue mission for wisdom. This week we were joined by a mythical individual, known only as “The Mysterious Agur”. 

While it sounds like he should ride in on a  fiery horse with the speed of light, a cloud of dust, and a hearty “Hi yo, Scripture!” – Agur The Mysterious without a faithful Indian companion, is a daring and resourceful interpreter of wisdom who led the fight for truth and justice  before the birth of Christ. Nowhere in the pages of history can one find any real  proof of him.

Return with us now to those thrilling days of yesteryear. From out of the past come the thundering declarations as Agur the Mysterious rides again!

He may be somewhat of a Scriptural superhero. Doubt that?

Look it up in the Bible!

It’s a bird!

It’s a plane!

No it’s not Superman….. It’s Agur the Mysterious…. A strange visitor from The Book of Proverbs who came to earth with powers and abilities beyond those of most men. 

Agur the Mysterious who can change the course of your thoughts, bend insights into enlightened knowledge and who more than likely never existed…..

Who was he supposed to be and why is he only mentioned once in the Bible, yet an entire chapter is dedicated to his wisdom? Those are some of the questions we examined in our shared study of Proverbs  30.

mentioned there are a few questions about the identity and even the existence of the man given credit for this chapter. Who is Agur the Mysterious? 

Your explanation may be as good as anyone else’s.

There are no other references to him in the Bible, no historical records connected with him being noteworthy, though he remains a person of interest.

As the reading today opened, “These are the collected sayings of the prophet Agur, Jakeh’s son[a]”’

The Passion Translation footnote, discusses “This section of Proverbs is attributed to Agur, who gave these oracles to his protégés Ithiel and Ukal”. Never heard of them? You’re not alone theologians aren’t sure they were real people either.

Some theologians even claim that Agur is a pseudonym, a pen name, for Solomon. Now what would the wisest man of his time want to “publish” these specific thoughts under another name? 

My thoughts immediately go to our earlier conversation about the sayings of the ”Wise Sages”. And the following sections which addressed insights noted as “Revelations From The Wise”, apparently they do not involve the aforementioned ‘wise sages’. 

I have no idea what the requirement is to officially be considered a “sage”, (giggle) or why these final offerings today do not ascend to that level, but nevertheless they seem to me to be equally as important.

And now with a title like Agur the Mysterious I feel that some editor over time believed perhaps these were more important than those, because this “sage” not only had a name, he had a capeworthy title.

So stay tuned as we’ll go  beyond the headlines and examine some of the works of this Biblical superhero.

In verse four Agur began by asking for some input. In one passage he asked six questions:

1. Who is it that travels back and forth from the heavenly realm to the earth?
2. Who controls the wind as it blows and holds it in his fists?
3. Who tucks the rain into the cloak of his clouds?
4. Who stretches out the skyline from one vista to the other?
5. What is his name? And what is the name of his Son?
6. Who can tell me?

Now riddle me this Agur, did you really need to ask or were you just trying to see if people were paying attention?

The riddle is solved for us, as the answers are found  in the New Testament. As the footnote indicates, “ Jesus solves this riddle in John 3:13. Only Jesus Christ is the master of heavenly knowledge and wisdom”. 

It’s also suggested that we refer to Ephesians 4:7–10. Here we learn that we are all eligible to receive the gift of Grace, as Christ descended from the Heavens and undertook a course to ensure it and our eternal salvation; should we choose to accept this mission possible.

Thursday’s conversation was aptly named “Analysis and Insights”. 

Seeing and believing for “Becoming Today” to be a community, I realize communities are messy. How couldn’t they be? After all, a community involves people and people are a mess. 

still it is so important to be  a vital member of a community.

Therefore I’m going to post the following queries and ask for you to respond either publicly or privately. Your participation will be priceless in ensuring the future value of this community.

1. Can you love online?
2. Is making a heart engagement, a soul level connection, possible in cyberspace?
3. How can I serve others?
   1. Meaning how can I better serve you? and
   2. What can you do to help others?
4. How do you feel connected?
5. What inspires you to be connected?
6. What prevents you from forming a connection?
7. How do you allow others to connect with you?
8. What does a true connection mean to you?

So what kind of responses did we receive?Each day the average human brain produces fifty-thousand (50,000) thoughts. Wow, right? Don’t’ try to count them yourself I kept losing track around number 22, lol.

Of all those thoughts, only ten-thousand (10,000); one-fifth (⅕), just 20% of those are positive.

Something that seems to hold true in our responses. So I’ve divided he answers into three main categories:

1. Fear
2. Self Doubt
3. External Pressures

Yesterday I asked, are you “Trusting In Trust”?

Are you truly believing and putting faith, understanding and energy into action?  

Trust is one of those things we’re constantly told we should be doing and sometimes we believe we are. However that’s not always the case even if we believe what we are saying. 

So it’s time to discuss trust, what it is, why it’s important and whether or not you can be becoming more trusting.

What does trusting actually mean?

We know it’s important, there are reminders of that fact almost constantly and here in the US you need only go as far as your wallet for a reminder of “In God We Trust”.

Though many who believe or claim they are, really are not.

To give us a working definition of the basic elements of what it means to trust in someone or something, let’s agree to discern the term as:

“Exhibiting and practicing full faith and confidence in an idea or individual, with reasonable expectation and reliance on their abilities to operate with the sureness of truth”

That seems like a lot to ask. It is. This is where we need to accept the idea that there are varying levels of trust that are perfectly acceptable. 

For example it’s okay to trust the garbage collection service will haul your trash away, but you should not expect them to be trusted to deliver the mail, much less to transport you to eternal salvation.

There is trusting within limits and trusting implicitly. Therefore when using the term we need to understand that we should treat trust with differing levels of accountability, expectation and protection. 

I don’t use the word childhood when discussing my past. I was always expected to be a short adult and circumstances dictated that I grow up a lot sooner than most. So let me say early in life I was taught to trust no one. Keep everything secret, do not tell anyone anything because they’ll use it against you.

This is not the proper lesson on developing trust. It is one I had to spend many years unlearning. 

I had to learn early that there is a significant amount of discernment necessary, even coming to understand that for my own protection I had to trust others outside of the ones we are commonly expected to believe in. In addition I had to trust that inner knowing to not let the ones I was supposed to trust find out I was trusting others. 

I could go on for several chapters on that, so for the purposes of our discussion today let me just say, I have known people with ties to organized crime that had more honor and were more trustworthy than some of those who publicly portrayed themselves as saints or claimed to be called to help.

In my early life trust  was intertwined with secrets, lies and hiding. The good news is I have come to know that truth and faith are what truly go hand in hand.

That’s the week that was. I hope and pray you have a relaxing, safe weekend and come Monday make the choice to join us again, on our next edition  of “Becoming Today”.