Memento Mori

Remember (that you are) mortal

During their Triumph the Roman General rode in his chariot with a slave whose sole purpose was to utter this phrase.  It was the slave’s job to remind the glorious general that he is not a god and that all victories are fleeting. As we ride our chariots in our own Triumph for participating in this rip-your-face-off rally we need to remember that we are only mortals. What good will this victory do if we give back all our gains?

As complacency kicks in and investors focus more on rewards rather than risk the volatility index has gone lower and lower. It is becoming extremely cheap again to hedge the market. It may cost a percentage point or two of performance but given the returns experienced thus far I think it is a fair trade.

Marcus Licinius Crassus

Disclaimer

Motivation is something I’ve been struggling with lately as I try to define
why it is I do what I do and what it is that keeps me happy as I do it. It’s
been a struggle in that, I wasn’t really conscious of what I was doing!!

For almost 2 years now I have been working full-time in my first post-
graduation job since I left TUJ. Since then I have grown dramatically,
I’ve learned a lot and unfortunately I’ve become comfortable with my
day-to-day tasks. This I find to be the most deadly fact of all, comfort.

Comfort leads to complacency and that, my friends, is the career killer.
At least, that is what I believe. I know that many may disagree and for
sure it’s not the same belief that you all should share. But I do believe
that to become complacent is the #1 killer of careers and dreams. It
means that you’ve settled. Things are ‘good enough.’ Your satisfied.

Well, I’m not satisfied. Nor will I ever want to be. At least, until I die.
If I die at any moment, I want my life to be satisfactory in that I know
that up to that moment, I tried my best and did all that I could. If I
stop trying now and just skate along, did I do my best every day?
Likely not.

Of course these ideas are not new. They’ve been published all over the
place and I’ve likely read it a dozen times over. The hard part is living it.
That brings me back to my original topic. Why I’ve been struggling to
self-motivate lately. The problem is, in my complacency I’ve grown
lazy. The job is manageable, no one really complains about my work
and I’m not in any ‘danger’ zone with my job stability. Perfect life right?

So the challenge is to stay motivated and keep trying to do a better
job at the job I do. How I do that will be a daily struggle until I change
jobs, but until that day I need to do the best I can. Today I succeed, but
will I be able to succeed tomorrow? Stay tuned to find out.

Complacency–comfort with the status quo–can destroy a change initiative.

How to identify complacency?

By asking some of the following questions:

• Are highly selective facts used to shoot down data suggesting your firm’s in big trouble?
• Do people bring up past failures to stall new initiatives rather than to learn?
• Do people say “We must act now!” but then don’t do anything?
• Do cynical jokes pervade important discussions?
• Are assignments around critical issues frequently completed late or sloppily?
• Do people regularly blame others for the company’s problems?

If you answered yes to these questions, your company is suffering from complacency that needs eradication–stat!  Let me know how I can help! Anissa

(excerpted from Harvard Business Review)

I cannot be the only liberal Democrat in the United States who is more than disheartened with the political situation in Washington, DC. A year ago, us liberals were floating high and mighty: Barack Obama was elected President of the United States, the Democrats expanded their majorities in the House of Representatives and the Senate, and it looked as though that perfect left-leaning political wave we had been eagerly anticipating for years had ripped right through the country, leveling eight years of conservative gentrification with the promise of dramatic political reform in its wake. Finally, there were enough politicians in office who cared about addressing the issues we had come to care so deeply about. The president-elect had promised health care reform, the initiation of a green collar economy, the end of discriminatory policies such as the military’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell policy, and dozens of other important initiatives which would renew the American spirit and change the face of the United States in the eyes of the world.

A year later, I find myself asking, “what the hell happened?”

Now, I am not a moron. I have worked in government. I have studied government. Basically, for the past three years, I have lived and breathed government. I know that the United States political system is designed to prevent sudden, radical change; and after eight years of the Bush administration’s follies, change will take a long time to push through Congress. I knew that when I cast my ballot for Obama last fall. I knew that the slogan “Change You Can Believe In” really meant “Change You Can Hope For, But You’d Better Take My Promises With a Grain of Salt.” Yes, in his first term, Obama may not accomplish everything he promised – and that’s not only understandable, but entirely expected.

However, eleven months into his presidency, I am disappointed with what has been done – rather, what hasn’t been done – by Obama and the Democratic-controlled Congress.

Immediately after he was inaugurated, it appeared likely that Obama and the Democrats would have been able to steamroll legislation through Congress in record time. Only a few weeks after he took office, Congress passed a multi-billion dollar stimulus package which promised to create jobs, repair American infrastructure, and revitalize several business sectors which have seen better days. Conservatives began flipping out, shouting the oh-so-dirty word “SOCIALISM!” at the top of their lungs while wrapping their heads in tin foil to prevent the mighty Obama from stealing their thoughts; and the corporate media began questioning the rapidity of Obama’s legislative agenda – so much so that Congress took a major breather following the passage of the stimulus package.

Simultaneously, Obama reversed hundreds of executive orders handed down by President Bush. He reversed the infamous ban on stem cell research and restricted domestic oil drilling. As his presidency progressed, Obama made it crystal clear that health care reform was the next big item on his agenda – and with opinion polls showing that over two-thirds of the American people supported a government health care system similar to Medicaid, it looked likely that health care would be passed over the summer and that the Obama administration would be able to move on to several other big items before the close of the president’s first year in office.

Of course, health care reform is still on the table. For half of his presidency, Obama’s hands have been tied by opponents of health care reform on both sides of the political aisle. On the right, the vile rhetoric from conservatives and ultra-conservative lunatics known as “Teabaggers” shredded any hope the Democrats had of passing a bipartisan reform bill. As far as the Republican Party is concerned, it is better for them to oppose everything Obama does than actually work on alternative plans to fix the health care disparity in the United States. It is better to shout “NO!” like a five-year-old who doesn’t want to take a bath. It is better to call the president a “socialist” or a “racist.” In fact, Republicans seem to believe that any act of political grandstanding is better than doing the job their constituents elected them to do. And any Republican who dares to work towards a bipartisan solution to America’s problems – such as Senator Olympia Snowe from Maine or Congressman Mark Kirk from Illinois – are cast out as “traitors” and “un-American” for showing even the slightest inkling of support to the President (a spitting example of hypocrisy, by the way, since anyone who opposed their president years ago was outcast the same way).

But the Republicans aren’t the only people eating themselves alive politically. The Democrats seem to be doing the same exact thing, and the health care reform debate has proven how flimsy the party really is. Conservative Democrats from traditionally Republican areas across the country have threatened to derail health care reform – even if they represent states or districts which appear to support a public option for health care. The Democrats have a 257-seat majority in the House of Representatives – but the House version of health care reform only passed by three votes, and one of those votes came from moderate Louisiana Republican Joseph Cao. Democrats from economically stagnant and unhealthy areas of the country – particularly districts in Deep South states such as Alabama, Mississippi, and Arkansas – voted against the bill, despite being elected on a national platform which endorsed a public option as part of the Democrats’ health reform initiative. In the Senate, four Democrats – Ben Nelson from Nebraska, Blanche Lincoln from Arkansas, Mary Landrieu from Louisiana, and Joe “Sometimes an Independent if it Gets Me Something” Lieberman from Connecticut – have threatened to fillibuster a health care reform bill. Lincon and Lieberman’s complaints vacate all logical discourse – over 58% of Arkansas voters support a public option, while Connecticut is an obviously liberal state which voted for Obama with 60% of the vote. Still, these guys are threatening to derail health care reform for their own selfish gain, whether they fear losing votes in their bids for re-election, or want to earn their place in history during this important debate, and may very well kill a bill which has taken over sixty years to get this far in Congress.

And while all of this is going on, where is my President?

President Obama has stood idly by as the Democrats destroy their political prowess from within. He has yet to take a strong stance on the public option, and seems content to just let things play out as they will. He wants health care reform – as long as he can call it “reform” in future campaign stops – and doesn’t seem to want to dip his toes into the filthy cess pool of corruption which has flooded Congress. This great leader we elected appears to enjoy traveling abroad more than he does dealing with the difficulties of our government he promised to address.

The long, drawn-out debate over health care has also put several other important legislative goals on the sidelines. Where is the Obama administration on expanding gay rights? He was considered to be one of the most gay-friendly political candidates to ever run for office, yet he has done very little for the gay community. The repeal of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell appears likely to pass now that Rep. Barney Frank has vowed to attach it to next year’s Defense Appropriations Bill, but beforehand, Obama seemed entirely complacent towards the issue. Not only did he refuse to push the repeal through immediately at the start of the 111th Congress, but he took the repeal’s sponsor – Rep. Ellen Tauscher from California – and gave her a job in the State Department.

Where is the green collar economy? What the United States needs more than a stimulus package and, as far as I’m concerned, health care reform is the creation of a new industrial sector in order to stimulate job growth, expand alternative energy research, and implement a cleaner energy economy in today’s world. A green economy would focus on domestic production of energy – solar, wind, natural gas, hydrogen, etc. – and would give hundreds of thousands of blue-collar workers a chance to dig into this new job sector. The green economy would not come out of thin air; rather, it would need several hundred billion dollars from the federal government to expand into a viable nationwide industry. But with health care reform, the stimulus package, and the proposed government jobs bill threatening to cost American taxpayers trillions of dollars in the years ahead, such an ambitious project appears unlikely to come into fruition.

Then there are the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, which continue to cost us billions of dollars a year, and appear likely to wage on long into Obama’s presidency. Obama promised to withdraw troops from Iraq and work towards a solution in Afghanistan, but now it appears likely that Obama will keep troops in Iraq while stretching our military resources to the limit in Afghanistan instead. Without these wars on our plate, the United States would protect its national security interests domestically while also cutting hundreds of billions of dollars worth of wasteful military spending from the fiscal budget. However, Democrats can’t end wars, because then the imperialists on the right would accuse them of opposing the troops and hating American freedom; so Democrats have to appear strong on defense issues, even though both wars are severely crippling the American economy and ruining the country’s reputation abroad.

All of these issues are slowly proving that Obama is far less competent a leader than liberals originally believed. Forget the cries of “socialism” and “traitor” from the right – Republicans never know what they are talking about, they just think the most insane attacks will stick. Instead, it’s time for liberals to address the mediocrity of President Obama himself. It’s time to light a fire under his ass and have him stand for what he promised over a year ago. Boycotting the DNC is not an option, either, since Democrats NEED to win next year, or else the Christian fascism and conservative anti-governance from the Bush years will return prematurely. Democrats need to stand for Democratic principles. They should not compromise their beliefs to appease a significant minority. They should not “hope” for “change” from the President. They should make their voices heard: Primary conservative Democrats, protest the president’s complacency, and make it obvious that the people who elected this Congress and this President are bothered by the lack of action in recent months.

Otherwise, complacency will ruin the Democratic Party, and spell disaster in the midterm elections next year and the presidential election in 2012.

Hey Friends!

I have been dormant these past two weeks as I have been on a much needed break from life. No, I wasn’t in a coma, I was on vacation! It’s amazing what a little time away from “life” can do for you isn’t it? Your eyes are opened up, your interest is sparked, your vision increased and the tension of normality relaxes. Sometime it’s hard to think-outside-the-box of your regular regime until you change your surroundings. Too much comfort and familiarity causes a horrible case of contentment.

Don’t let your special character and values, the secret that you know and no one else does; the truth – don’t let that get swallowed up by the great chewing complacency. – Aesop

There are things in my life that I hate. Some things I can’t stand, and many that I wish could be changed. I’ve come to realize that this will always be the case. I will always want something to be slightly different, something a little less stressful or a little more glamorous. What I’ve learned is that each of these things is something that is pushing me, stretching me and preparing me for something greater than I am at this moment.

The only way these things will defeat me is if I allow them to. I have to make the conscience choice to keep a fresh picture of change in front of me, and remember that I can’t get comfortable where I am. There’s nothing worse than getting in a rut and losing sight of the dreams and ambitions you have locked away in the back of your mind.

Complacency is bad for you. Don’t get comfortable with mediocrity; strive for something greater. Don’t let the things you hate in your life kill your vision. Let it shape you and propel you into the next step. Mix up your surroundings, do something new, go on vacation.

Get a picture.
Make a plan.
And make it happen.

We live in a great country where every day, every moment, you and I have the happy opportunity to make choices: Each morning we can get up early or hit the snooze button; watch TV or read a book; rent a DVD or see a movie; go to college or not; work in the private sector or public; meet minimum performance standards and just get by, or exceed them. Let work and life happen to you or seize the moment and make life extraordinary!

You are the captain of your life. While it is true that we may not choose all of the circumstances of our lives, we may absolutely choose our responses and we may learn to influence and change our circumstances. At the end of the day do you look back at your actions and say, “I gave it everything I had!”? Does there have to be some great project, mission or opportunity for you to get engaged, or are you willing to give it everything you have with everyday things: Every phone call, every conversation, and every assignment no matter how small?!

Many of us live waiting for what is next. I can’t wait to get to high school; I can’t wait to get out of high school. When we get out of high school and get a job…I can’t wait to get a job I like, in college…I can’t wait to graduate. When single…I can’t wait to get married. When married…I can’t wait to be single. With small kids…I can’t wait until my kids grow up. We can’t wait to have money when we have little, when we have abundantly, we can’t wait to have more.

We live on someday isle. Someday I’ll be home in time to read my children a story and kiss them goodnight! Someday I’ll get in shape! someday I’ll finish my degree! someday, someday I’ll do what it takes to earn a promotion! We live on someday isle where opportunities pass us by while we are waiting for the “significant” things in our lives to happen. I believe a great indicator of how people will perform in a defining moment is how they perform every day. Make right now your great moment! When you share a conversation, make it great-be present, be invested! When you are given a task you think is beneath you-crush it! Come back to whomever assigned it to you and report it complete ahead of schedule and under budget. You want to prove your value on great things? Prove your value on everyday things. Otherwise, all too soon, our children are grown with children of their own, our careers are over and our short time on this earth is coming to a close and we have failed to act and seize the moments of our lives.

Everyone has the potential to be a leader. The word “leader” is derived from Greek and Latin words which mean “to act”. Leadership is not about title or rank, it is about the ability to act and “impact”. You have choices how to exercise your leadership.

Each of our lives is like the vast unchartered Louisiana Territory of leadership. We have many choices: We can stay safely in “St. Louis” and enjoy vicariously the adventures that lie beyond the horizon; we can venture out, but stick to the easy trails; However, if we want real adventure and if we want to make a real impact, we must do with our life’s leadership opportunities what Lewis and Clark did in the Louisiana Territory-get “lost” in order to “find” our dreams.

It is time to leave complacency and comfort zones behind. It is time to unleash personal and leadership potential. It is time to act and seize the moments of life!

A week or two ago I had the pleasure of watching never seen before color film of WW II. It was presented on the cable History channel and ran for five nights. If they ever run it again, try and get to see it. The films are truly amazing and all I could think of as I watched it was, “how the heck did they get that shot?” During one of the early segments there was a short interview with one of the WW II vets and he downplayed the fact that most historians agree that those GI’s were the “greatest generation”.  These were young men, some as young as 16 (Audie Murphy who became the most decorated soldier to come out of the war) who answered the nation’s call to defend America, Europe, the Pacific island nations and freedom loving people everywhere from the fascist juggernaut known as the Axis Powers.

Adolph Hitler, Benito Mussolini and Emperor Hirohito forged an alliance of blood and terror with world domination in mind. The Italians lacked leadership and any will to fight so they became an after thought during this conflagration. But Hitler and Hirohito were quite another story.

To understand the Japanese and their fanaticism, you need to read a book written by a James Bradley and titled, “Flyboys” and then  you can better understand what the 1940’s American military had to deal with in the Pacific theater of the war. The war in Europe has been chronicled by many authors but probably no one did it better than Stephen Ambrose for his works “Citizen Soldiers” and “Band of Brothers”.

OK, so where am I going with this? That was over sixty years ago and now we have a new and different enemy.

One of the more interesting segments during the aforementioned TV special was a quote from a Life Magazine war correspondent, Robert Sherrod, as he hit the beach at Tarawa with the Marines. He mused that he did not think that the young boys he was riding in the landing craft with had the “right stuff” or intestinal fortitude to be able to fight their way through the withering enemy fire and win the day for America. Those young men proved him wrong and he was the first to admit it. They had the stuff and were members of the greatest generation of Americans. Time and time again, they threw themselves at the Japs and time and time again, they came out victorious.

Sherrod’s last mission was with the marines and army on Iwo Jima. A little known fact about this battle is that there were more American causalities there than in the entire landing at Normandy on D-Day. The young American men, the pride of the nation, killed over 8,000 of the enemy and suffered a like number of casualties  for their effort.

Now we are faced with a new kind of enemy but one not unlike the Japanese of WW II. This enemy, the Islamic Terrorist, puts no value on human life, as did the Japanese. This enemy freely kills himself for his cause, as did the Japanese. This enemy believes he is righteous and in the hands of God, as did the Japanese (Hirohito was the God). The soldiers on both these battlefields were indoctrinated from an early age and lived for nothing but to serve. How similar they are, and yet, so different. Today’s terrorist does not believe in family or honor as the Japanese did. They live for one thing, to kill non-believers. They care not who they kill, where they kill, or how they kill. They live to kill and die to kill. Their fanaticism is complete and without remorse.

How can  they be defeated? Is there another great generation of Americans that will rise up, beckon the call to arms and smite them down? To make them pay with their blood? To show the world that America is the keeper of the peace and the guardian of freedom and liberty?

To quote Robert Sherrod, I don’t think so. We are a country torn apart. We are a country who wants our creature comforts and do not want to be inconvenienced. We are a country of an all volunteer army. An Army whose commander in chief actually wanted any wounded GI to have his own insurance cover his medical expenses. We are led by an narcissist apologist who is ashamed of America. A man who has never held a job, a man who has no diplomatic experience, no leadership background of any kind. Yet, he leads us because he said he said he could  change America; and America believed him. We have not come very far, have we? To be seduced by a slick talking charlatan, pretender, fake, con artist, . Well America, you have him and what has he changed? NOTHING!

This article in no way is meant to reflect on our current men and women serving in the armed froces. They are volunteers and the best of the best. They are keeping us from harm’s way and doing so without the support of their commander in chief. To these men and women, I salute thee.

This past weekend I was driving through the Texas town of Fredericksburg in the Texas Hill Country. To avoid the main street traffic I took some side streets ant saw a four by six foot picture of George W. Bush. Under it, it said, “Do you miss me yet?” It required no answer.

The youth of America will be called upon to fight the invaders but will they have the heart to do it? Can they give up their I-pods, their cell phones, their PC’s. their MAC’s, their love of leisure, their disdain for authority, their penchant for reality shows which really are not, their dependence on big government, their abject liberalism? Again, I think not.

.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend here in the US, and besides the wonderful traditional family meal and pleasant times with my kids, this time frame reminds me of something else.

Discussing Dissociation has been up and visible for nearly one year now.  Yep, in a few days, it will be a year already!

Wow.  Where has the time gone??!!!

There is truth to the saying that time flies, or is it because time flies when you’re having fun … or maybe I’m just getting older, lol.

Anyway, I’m being silly, but I do want to say today how much I appreciate all of you that have been readers here at this blog.  The number of faithful, returning readers has been utterly amazing to me. If you look back through all the pages, you’ll see well over a thousand excellent comments from a wide variety of the readers.  Wow!  The input you all have made in this blog has brought it to life and given it a life-filled energy that I certainly couldn’t create on my own.

For the way each and every one of you have contributed to the positive, educational nature of this blog, I sincerely thank you.  I truly appreciate your involvement, your thoughts, your comments, your questions.  You’ve helped to make this little site a safe, comfortable community for dissociative trauma survivors. I think it’s a job well done, and once again, I do sincerely thank you for your part in this process.  Writing a blog wouldn’t be nearly so fun without hearing comments from the readers!  You all rock!

Many of you have questioned why I started this blog in the first place.  The original reason is not as mysterious or worrisome as some of you may have thought.  It’s a widely stated and highly recommended common practice for therapists to use blogs for marketing purposes.  Marketing experts recommend to write what you know about, and to respond to the comments you receive.  Blogs get quickly listed in search engines, and they are an easy, economical way for your target audience to get to know you, and to see what you do, and to become more familiar with the work that you do.  It’s a simple as that.  Check the blogosphere for blogs by therapists.  You’ll see that most therapists write about their fields of work the same as I do.

I just happen to know about a very specialized topic – dissociative identity disorder.  And my readers are a very distinct but wonderful population – dissociative trauma survivors or trauma therapists.  (There aren’t very many of us out here — it’s no wonder that we are congregating together!)  And yes, practically all of my blog articles have been very specific to DID, not that the topics couldn’t also apply to other populations, but the point of this blog is to “discuss dissociation” so I do tailor my articles to being about dissociative disorders, and the DID population.  There’s no mystery there, lol.  I think I’ve said that pretty upfront.

But something much bigger has been happening besides my having found a very effective marketing tool.

With all the positive sharing and support that has been created here, this blog has provided a deep sense of hope and healing for so many people.  Having that absolute knowing that others are progressing along their healing journey as well, many survivors don’t have to feel so very alone.  You might learn things from my articles, but you can also learn from each other, the same as I learn from you as well.  It’s a wonderful circle of positive, helpful information, and that in itself is priceless.

Building a sense of safety, knowing you are not alone in your struggles, and learning from others who have been there too provide emotional foundations that so very crucial to healing and can augment your therapeutic process.  Please remember, this blog is in no means a substitute for actual therapy, but it does provide a lot of educational support for survivors working on their own healing, or for therapists learning about working DID / MPD.

Again, you all have immensely helped to create that healing, informative atmosphere, and I am grateful for that.

We have to create and protect places of healing.

Even survivor-led blogs such as the truly incredible BTC blog have become targets for destruction by the “hazing / flaming / insaniacs” of the world.  Do we really want the haters and gossipers to take over and ruin all the places of healing and support?  How sad is this?!!

I know that you know there are predators and perpetrators out there in the world.  For some of you, your abuse stopped years ago.  For some of you, you are still smack dab in the middle of fighting your abusers.  Some of you are being hassled and manipulated by internet predators (whether you know it or not), and some of you are safely away from any direct attack from anyone.  No matter where you are in your life, there are abusers and predators out there in the world, (including those wolves in sheep’s clothing hiding within the dissociative population itself), so the importance of having safe retreats amongst all the danger and destruction is more important than you might realize.

Those of you that feel the loss of BTC’s blog can understand what I’m talking about.  It’s a real shame that abusive people continue to ruin the good places and run off the good people.  I think that is a tragedy.  But it happens.

• Are you one that sits back quietly, doing nothing even though you see others destroying places of support?
• Do you believe the lies and negative gossip spread about helpers and healers?
• Are you so angry from your own abuse that you are willing to take that out on people who have helped you?

Surely the survivor population can see through the manipulations of abusers.  You are adults now – you can start seeing through the tricks that are being played out there.  Please remember to think for yourself the next time you hear some negative hogwash about someone who has dared to be a helper / healer.  You can take a stand against that.

Complacency only allows abuse to continue.

Trauma survivors, I encourage you to ban together in protection of your valued and positive healing resources.

So many of you grew up without any safety or comfort or support.  You learned to pull deep within yourself or to block out the world entirely.  You survived it alone.

But it doesn’t have to be that way anymore.

Most of you are still learning about how important and helpful it is to have places of safe connection, genuine relationship, and gentle bonding.   It may be scary to be around people, but building a positive, healing, trustworthy community is a way of overcoming the need to be isolated in order to avoid abuse.

Again, I challenge you to protect your places of healing.  Protect those that are your helpers.  Stand firm around your leaders that fight against abuse.

Don’t fall into the trap of complacency or destructive participation.

Your healing resources are depending on that.

———-

By:

Kathy Broady LCSW

www.AbuseConsultants.com

www.SurvivorForum.com

New International Version Bible.

For the waywardness of the simple will kill them, and the complacency of fools will destroy them.

foto – sparrow in ulmarra 2009

A friend posted the following question on Twitter: What are you afraid of?

It took me two weeks of contemplating how to put it into words.  I’m still not happy with it but here is my answer:

It is the root of all evil.  It is a drug that sedates all aspects of our lives. It tears apart our relationships with our friends, our family, and significant others.  Complacency.  It doesn’t come in pill form, so you won’t know you’re taking it and you won’t realize the moment that you’re addicted.

It happens over time and we are all affected at some level from its grasp.  Look at your own life.  At 8 you probably didn’t hope to be what you are today.  When you first met your significant other it is likely that that fire burnt brighter than it does today.  We set out with high expectations for ourselves and at some point the daily grindstone wears down on us.  Our intentions of global domination have been replaced by our groaning over going to the gym.  What the hell happened to us?

It’s because we get comfortable in our ways, we become complacent.  We wake up, we shower, breakfast?..nope, no time, commute to work, stare at our cubicle walls, check Facebook, lunch yet? nope, keep staring at wall, go to lunch: want to eat healthy, but oh, we’ll start the diet tomorrow….Chipotle!!!, back to work, feel bloated, spend 20 minutes on YouTube, go to meeting #5 for the day, 4:45 comes around…slip out early, go home, eat Hamburger Helper, check Facebook, think about that book that you haven’t picked up in 2 weeks….nah……television, and off to bed.

There is no shortage of monotony in our lives.  The great tragedy is that we allow ourselves to do it….TO OURSELVES.  I have been fortunate in understanding this and when I start to get trapped in the monotony of the daily grind…to put it politely: I go fucking crazy.  I have to get out!  I have to do something.  I call every person on my contact list…”What are you doing? LET’S GO DO SOMETHING!!!…..you’re busy? Okay, I gotta go!  Next week? Yeah, great! Call me, I gotta go!” (this conversation lasts for approximately 5 seconds)…onto next contact.

Being classified as normal scares the hell out of me.  I feel the need to constantly reinvent myself.  Several of my friends have made a game out of it.  It has different names, but the same principal: do something different everyday, something out of your comfort zone, and no matter what happens accept that the end result is…perfect.  It can be something as simple as making funny faces in the mirror, it can be watching a movie that you wouldn’t normally go see, it’s gone as extreme as midnight skinny dipping…whatever it is….do it.  Turn back the tide of complacency.

Maybe for you taking over the world isn’t in your cards….but maybe changing the world is.  Once you start to get out of your comfort zone, (hopefully) you’ll start to realize that you’re not that busy once you start to cut out some of the monotony.  Use your time to change the world.  Volunteer.  It helps change the world and it provides you with warm fuzzies.

If it’s with a significant other, do some of those things that won them over in the first place (I doubt it was eating dinner on the couch while watching television).  If it is rediscovering friends, don’t just write a comment on Facebook, buy season tickets to whatever.  It doesn’t have to be to sports, mine are to the theater, it means that I am committed to seeing my best friend at least once a month.  We get to enjoy something that we would normally find some monotonous excuse to miss.

Getting out of that comfort zone and being aware of the side effects of complacency has helped me to get more out of my life.  I hope that for those of you who took the time to read this, it helps you in some way.

I stop my rant now…thanks for listening and take care of eachother.

Photo by VC Ferry

I proceeded over
the underpass
avoiding dullness’s
sharp prick

it will cut you
to the quick

unless you take
the free
way

L. K. Thayer

All Rights Reserved

© 2009

Yesterday, I found a link back to this blog I had read a while ago. It’s called Stuff Christians Like. Kind of an odd title and I probably wouldn’t have read it before, except a friend had posted it on facebook and it a funny title, “Thinking you’re naked.” What??? I had to read it. It was an incredible article.

I found myself there again, this time through a completely different website. I remembered the previous article and decided to look at the more recent articles. I wanted to see if this was a rare good article, or one of many (it’s definitely one of many). This time, I found myself on this one: “What if?”

The author, Jon, was inspired by his 6-year-old daughter to fundraise for a school in Vietnam. They were reading a book and she saw a photo of a young child somewhere else in the world living in poverty and asked, “That’s not real though. That’s pretend right?” He realized that her question went deeper. People don’t really live like that? Kids my own age? Why isn’t anyone doing something? Why aren’t we doing something? He decided to act on it.

I’m amazed. How many times does the Lord speak things into my life in equally small ways, which I can brush off and I do? Why do I not see something that needs done and do it?

Why don’t I notice the “someone needs to do something about that” moments and realize that they may be the Lord saying, “You need to do something about that”?

Why do I let fear and complacency get in the way of living my live completely for the Lord, especially in the small ways that no one else will know about?

In September of 2008, I was asked to accompany The Home Foundation to Moldova and Turkey to document their trip to the orphanages of Moldova and to the human trafficking hub of Istanbul. While walking through the streets of Turkey, we came across this child sitting alone in a very busy street begging for money. She couldn’t have been more than 4 years old. I’m regularly haunted by the pitiful sound of her begging cries.

This trip impacted my life in many ways and each time I see this photo it just serves as a reminder of that trip. The people walking by ignoring her, a painful reminder that we do the same thing to homeless people here. We walk by, avoiding eye contact because we don’t want to face the reality that these people are in need… hungry, homeless, cold, in need of our help. We don’t want to help because it is an inconvenience or will take away from our lunch money or our ability to buy another luxury. Shame on us. Shame on me and shame on you for ignoring genuine needs of hurting people.

*stepping off my soapbox* ~ Just wanted to share that and admit my guilt in ignoring poverty so many times… not every time, but many times. I wish it were inverted and I could say that I rarely ignore it instead of rarely responding to it.

Do you know what the problem is?  It isn’t that I don’t want to write the story.  I think a story is in there somewhere, but I don’t think the story is very good.  It began rather intriguing, but over three weeks just went to crap.  I’m missing the point.  That’s what happens to stories sometimes.  You’ve got this idea and you go with it.  But after awhile you start to feel uncomfortable, a little irk in the back of your head.  When you finish the section you frown a little.  Still, you keep going.  This time you frown as you write.  You erase a chunk of it and rewrite.  But, it still is not good.  Then, you go into it with a frown.  You know something is wrong.  The whole thing feels bad, but you are not sure what it is and simply lose interest.

This is the crossroad.  I don’t want it to sound like some pivotal, life-altering decision (though, arguably, all decisions are life-altering).  But, the choice is mostly between complacency and abandonment.  Complacency, you keep writing whatever dribble comes out of those fingers.  Abandonment, you drop the pen and walk away.  Complacency is weak.  Abandonment is defeat.  Personally, I’d much rather be a loser than a weakling.

Now, the argument can be made that these are not the only two choices.  Re-examining the work may show you the point.  In my experience, it takes at least a little abandonment in order to properly re-examine.  Complacency can work through the problem, but once you have the Twinkie why go back to the carrot?

“The Story” (never boded well without a title) has been Abandoned (short run…ah the life of a writer).  It will be Re-examined.  I’ve got a story there, I just need to find the point.  But, I have a place to write.  Come back, stay, whatever.

“I could not, at any age, be content to take my place by the fireside and simply look on. Life was meant to be lived. Curiosity must be kept alive. One must never, for whatever reason, turn his back on life.” — Eleanor Roosevelt

This quote struck a chord with me (being a curious person).  One of my pet peeves is complacency, yet I think most of the world IS complacent.  Attitudes exist such as “well, that’s the way it’s going to be” and “I can’t do anything to effect change” and “the world’s too big of a place; I’m happy where I’m at.”  Contentment is good – if not essential.  Malcontent breeds a slew of major vices, including greed and its relatives, lust and gluttony.  However, there is a FINE LINE between contentment and complacency.  The reconciliation between the two is this:  that every human being should bloom where they are planted, and strive to be a better, more virtuous person every day.

Easier said than done, for many.  A glimpse at reality isn’t always (if ever) easy.  But how long is the majority of the world going to be complacent about the things that matter?  How long are people going to tout political correctness as a way to avoid important discussions about religion and politics?  How long will people view “things” and “situations” as the means to happiness, instead of happiness being the result of a conglomeration of virtues from within?

I believe it is BECAUSE of avoidance and BECAUSE of a wayward quest for happiness that, so often, people give up.  Let’s take crisis caller “Ralph” for example*, an old, unmarried man who is looking at life in a rearview mirror.  Life has no meaning for him; he is simply an onlooker who watched his life pass, without being an active participant.  He has been having suicidal ideation for months.  “Ralph”, whose name and situation has been completely disguised for confidentiality reasons, isn’t too different from most Americans, I fear.  Those who live for themselves and do not embrace life passionately are at risk for despair.

Unfortunately, there’s no clear-cut solution for the passiveness epidemic…or unhappiness epidemic.  I’ve had a growing interest in positive psychology; perhaps over time, as this cutting-edge field is more publicized, America will finally wake up.  Starbucks sure hasn’t done the job…

today sucked again. i found out that the income that came in this friday, which was supposed to be about $700 was in reality about $380. on friday night, we went out to eat, and got a bottle of vodka. saturday, i spent cash on needed but not urgent things. because i thought there was $700 in the house, and that another $600 was coming in a few days.

and i have been with the same guy for 15 years, and i have tried every possible strategy i could to come up with a way to budget so that we don’t go bankrupt. they all failed. he didn’t tell me about the $380. he insists he did. and he is hassled and put out by the fact that i am budgeting this money to pay for his food, which i make for him, and to pay for his daughter’s food, and the laundry, and the clothes. he acts like an obstinate teenager. then calls it “abuse” when i get pissed off about this.

we have spreadsheets. he doesn’t use them. we have calendars. he doesn’t use them. we had Micr*soft M*ney. he didn’t use that. we tracked the spending on paper. he didn’t enter any income on the paper sheets. he never adds up receipts. he never pays a bill, of any kind, ever. not once.

ever.

his bills.

my job.

so what’s wrong with me? what’s wrong is that i will always, no matter how hard he makes it for me, i will always manage. i will feed, clothe and shelter my child, who is his child. and as long as he is living where his child is, the utilities will be paid and he will have a place to sleep. irrespective of whether he contributes 50% to  that or not. and he doesn’t.

and fuck him for that.

what’s wrong is that despite days like today being commonplace around here, i still hold out hope that at some point he will grow up and pay his bills, budget his money, quantify every dollar, prepare food, buy food, budget for food, devise a coping strategy when there isn’t enough money for food, and i KNOW it will never happen. i know from 15 years of experience with this person.

i don’t love him. i don’t expect love or respect from him. i just want to get through the day. i want a budget and an itinerary and  a clean house. i feel that i’ve already given up love. i have given up respect. i have given up caring. i have given up reliability. i have given up co parenting. i have given up sex that’s worth the time spent on it. i have given up everything a person expects from a husband. now, all i ask is a decent room mate.

and i’m an asshole for that.  oh, i’m ABUSIVE for that.

shitwad.

that’s not what i want to talk about though. what i really want to talk about is why it is that i can know all of this about this guy, and still be here.  because until i do really get into that, i can’t fix that.

i’m concerned with this economy the impact of moving either us or him out, maintaining two homes and having enough money to go around, when we don’t even have enough for this one home.

but on days like today, i can’t help thinking there has to be a way i can rid myself of this albatross, some way i can live in a house free of this shit, and just collect the child support which won’t be enough, but at least i’d have my day-to-day dignity and no one monkeywrenching every strategy i try to get on top of the finances. yeah, he will still act like an obstinate teenager with having to pay child support, and he probably won’t do it but whatever. it’s not the dollar amount that matters, he needs to understand taht he has to be reliable to his child. give the same amount, every week, without fail, and in spite of any obstacles he had. he won’t understand that, and he will view it as me imposing some unreasonable conditions on his fatherhood. but here’s the kicker: he’ll do all that in his OWN HOUSE.

that’s what i want.

but seriously, in the worst recession since the great depression, what i want and what is possible are different things.

so i am left to try to be divorced, while living under one roof.

which is the place i am in, repeatedly.months go by, i get complacent, i live like i’m married, then days like today happen when i am reminded that i do not have a partner. i do not have someone who will cooperate with me on parenting, house work, budgeting, or love me.

so how to solve this? how do i avoid that complacency period? that time when i go out, but i take him with me, that time where i fuck, but i fuck his fat smelly ass.

it’s like i keep waiting for something to happen to make things different. and i am perpetually thinking that something is changing, that this job will bring in enough money to leave, or this person i’m associating with may open doors…. but it never happens.

and my feeling is, i can adjust to any reality, as long as i know what it is. people do it all the time, they raise kids as single parents. it happens. why do i have to go through the whole wringer of the divorce process just to establish a dollar amount and physical custody of a child? can’t we just agree to that, and not involve the courts?

the idea i usually come back to is that i have to bite the bullet and just move out. even though i can’t afford it. even though i can’t get housing. even though i can’t make enough money to support my child and myself. that i should just do it and let chips fall where they may, and be uncomfortable with no internet connection and no phone and no tv and on food stamps and section 8.

to do that i would have to get legally divorced.

to get legally divorced, i would have to submit to an audit and pay back taxes.

oh, and i’d have to MOVE! ugh. i’ll tolerate any hell if it means i don’t have to move.

because he’s got a sweet deal here. his electricity will never be shut off, he never has to pay any bills or even know what they are, he never goes to teacher conferences, he never enrolls her in her activities, he basically works, gives us what he thinks is appropriate, which is decided that day, and eats and sleeps here. i take care of everything else. that’s a pretty sweet deal, if you’re a mooch by nature. so as long as i allow him to reside with his child, who is always going to reside with me, this is how things will be.

i can’t plan anything. i can’t commit to anything, including a work schedule. which means i can’t keep a job. i can’t consistently keep food in the house.

etc.

and if i were to force a move, i’d be dealing with the same shit. but i would be alone in my house with my child. and no one would call me abusive for providing.

Deuteronomy 6:10-19

Beware, lest you forget the Lord who brought you out of the land of Egypt, from the house of bondage. —Deuteronomy 6:12

Life looks rosy to many people. Their work is fulfilling. The house or apartment doesn’t need repair. Their bank account shows a surplus. Family members are enjoying good health. Friends are loyal.

Good times, however, can be dangerous. The comforts and pleasures of this world can become so important that we give God little or no place in our thoughts. Prosperity can quickly lead to complacency.

God knew this would happen to His people when they entered the Promised Land. So He warned them not to forget the source of their blessings (Deuteronomy 6:12). He instructed them:

• Fear the Lord (verse 13).
• Serve Him (verse 13).
• Do not go after other gods (verse 14).
• Do not tempt the Lord (verse 16).
• Keep the commandments (verse 17).
• Do what is right and good (verse 18).

Historians tell us that religious fervor usually declines during prosperous times. But if we will learn from Israel’s experience and heed the Lord’s instruction, this need not happen to us.

Let’s be careful that we do not forget the Lord — especially when all looks bright! —herb vander lugt

Help us, O Lord, to ponder this: we  have no good apart from You; for we are prone to take our ease when all is bright and skies are blue. —d de haan

Prosperity may be a greater test of character than poverty.

Sometimes Lisa and I become complacent. We begin to think that maybe singlism isn’t so pervasive and prevalent. We stop doing as many blog entries. We forget why we started Onely in the first place.  This fault is yours, Copious Readers! Because the vast majority of our commenters are so forward-thinking about singles’ issues, Lisa and I begin–mostly unconsciously–to think that by extension all of the blogosphere, and all of the world, must also contain a high percentage of people who think being single is fine, maybe even desirable. We begin to believe that most people recognize the privilege gap created by the institution of marriage and would change it if given the opportunity.

Last Thursday morning 107.3 Wash FM’s Jack Diamond Morning show smacked me back to reality. I can’t remember the details or find a direct link to the show (yes, this is how most of my anecdotes start!), but I remember driving into work with my mouth hanging open as the broadcaster talked about a single friend of his who needs a girlfriend. The speaker laid out several stereotypes one after the other, including mentions of his friend sitting home alone because the bar scene is yucky and sad. These images were dropped casually into the conversation as if instead of discussion points, they were inalienable facts: obviously it’s better to be at home with someone that at home alone, and obviously if you’re single the only place to go is to the bar to drink your sorrows away with other single people drinking their sorrows away.  Upon hearing this, I realized afresh how insidious singlism is, how awash with almost-invisible and seldom-articulated presumptions.

I called up Lisa that morning to remind her that Onely is a bubble of positive singles’ energy and advocacy–perhaps too bubbly. Even though we do our share of griping, the fact that so many commenters share our gripes and provide support and suggestions for dealing with singlism lulls us into a false sense of security.

How can we pop this bubble? How can we integrate more into the wider (and less singles-friendly) world? I have a couple ideas: I’d like to interview some people who might have radically different social views from Onely, like a conservative Christian preacher, or (as the makers of Seeking Happily Ever After did) the hostess of a sexist reality show.   I also want to start blogging more in our “Take Action” series, which flags opportunities for us and our readers to educate community leaders about singles’ issues. I might provide addresses and form letters for re-educating (this word makes me feel very Cultural Revolutionish but oh well) politicians, companies, advertisers, and moviemakers (Ahem, Slum Dog) who present offensive material.

Copious Readership, do you feel bubbled and if so, what are your ideas for bursting out?

–Christina

A May 2000 Fast Company article Why Can’t We Get Anything Done? poses a very good question:

These days, people know a lot. Thousands of business books are published around the world each year. U.S. organizations alone spend more than $60 billion a year on training — mostly on management training. Companies spend billions of dollars a year on consulting. Meanwhile, more than 80,000 MBAs graduate each year from U.S. business schools. These students presumably have been taught the skills that they need to improve the way that companies do business.

But all of that state-of-the-art knowledge leaves us with a nagging question: Why can’t we get anything done? It’s a mystery worthy of a business-school case study. If we’re so well trained and so well informed, then why aren’t we a lot more effective? Or, as Stanford professors Jeffrey Pfeffer and Robert I. Sutton ask in their useful book, The Knowing-Doing Gap: How Smart Companies Turn Knowledge Into Action (Harvard Business School Press, 2000), “Why is it that, at the end of so many books and seminars, leaders report being enlightened and wiser, but not much happens in their organizations?”

Pfeffer and Sutton’s book “The Knowing Doing Gap” made a big impact on me when I read it.

The book recounts a story of a company paying consultants to come in and give them advice on particular strategy issues.  The consultants eventually found that previous consultants had already been engaged and produced reports that matched what they themselves were going to recommend.  The company had already received the advice which the consultants thought was best – but had failed to be able to act on that advice.

It’s a familiar story.  Companies bring in external advisors who say things that management agree make sense, but … nothing changes.

My own takeaway from the book was the following set of five characteristics of companies that can successfully bridge this vicious “Knowing Doing Gap”:

1. They have leaders with a profound hands-on knowledge of the work domain;
2. They have a bias for plain language and simple concepts;
3. They encourage solutions rather than inaction, by framing questions asking “how”, not just “why”;
4. They have strong mechanisms that close the loop – ensuring that actions are completed (rather than being forgotten, or excuses being accepted);
   
5. They are not afraid to “learn by doing”, and thereby avoid analysis paralysis.

If you don’t have time to read the whole book, there’s a 38 minute long download “The smart talk trap” from Audible that covers much of the same ground.  It’s the audio version of a 1999 Harvard Business Review article by Pfeffer and Sutton:

The key to success in business is action. But in most companies, people are rewarded for talking – and the longer, louder, and more confusingly, the better. The good news is, there are 5 strategies that can help you avoid the trap.

Footnote: There’s one other angle that deserves a mention on this topic.  It’s the angle of why change programs frequently fail.  John Kotter has shed much light on this question.  I wrote about this previously, in “Why good people fail to change bad things“.

Really clever product placement, captured by Drew McLellan’s blog:

Sometimes you don’t have to spend millions on a campaign.  You just have to ask a different question.Drew McLellan, The Marketing Minute, Oct 2009

OPT Takeaway:

Many solutions exist outside of our current thinking, and that of the marketplace. Be open to new ways of improving your business model.

We find, in most cases, that our biggest competitor is our own clients’ complacency or current business practices.  By introducing our combination of disciplined methodology, data-driven insights and continuous learning and improvement, we bring a huge value-add to our clients’ operations, both in customer experience/service/satisfaction as well as asset retrieval/reverse logistics.

Have you taken a fresh look at your current business practices of late? Do you have a way to get all the information you need to make informed decisions on what to spend money on and what to cut? If you’re not sure, it might be a good time to talk with us.

–sk

God does not always tell us everything because we may not be ready for it, or we may not be able to handle it. Perhaps with John, it was both. We can still trust that His judgment and what He gives us is sufficient. We have all we need in His Word to know Him, grow in Him, and make Him known. We have all we need to know what is relevant and important for our spiritual formation, to lead a godly purposeful life, and to know about future happenings. If we crave what we have not been given, and seek to make up for ourselves our own doctrine, we will greatly stray from His path by our ignorance and arrogance. God wants us focused upon Him and the building of our faith and character, not to satisfy our lust for what He says we are not ready for. God wants us to take what He has given and exercise ourselves with it, living out our doctrine without becoming fat by it. He would have us take what He has given and apply it with passion, pointing others to live by His heart and call by the application of faith. This means God wants us to be faithful and not instigative. We are to be revolutionary with our faith, not with His doctrine. We are to stir up our complacency, not our rebellion of His ways (Acts 1:6-8; 1 Thess. 5:2). 

Questions to Ponder: 

1. How would you describe the glory of our Lord? What does it mean to you to be reflecting His glory? Why does God not always tell us everything? What if He did?

1. If we assume that God is serious (and He is), why would some Christians choose to ignore Him and the source of His precepts?

1. How is this passage an example to us as a Church that one day, we too may witness these events at their fruition? What can you do to prepare your faith and perseverance so that in the meantime, you can handle the “micro” applications by the sins of those around you?

1. What can you and your church do to take more seriously and pay more attention to what God is saying so you can be better at obeying Him through His most precious Word? What does it mean to you that we have the call and the responsibility to examine and apply His Word?

© 2006 R. J. Krejcir Ph.D. Into Thy Word Ministries www.intothyword.org

The Preterist view: They see the mighty angel as Jesus Himself because of the description, and the rainbow as the throne of God (Rev. 1:16; 4:3). Sea and land represent the Gentile nations, and the little scroll as the Book of Revelation itself. The seven thunders are seen as the voice of Psalm 29 that rocks the nation Israel. Seal up is seen as events too terrible to tell or comprehend so as to spare discouragement to the people. Others in this view see this as the event not fulfilled by 70 A.D. that was still to be fulfilled, mainly the “Partial Preterits.” No more delay is seen as indicating the wait was over and the prayers of the saints have been answered; their blood would be avenged and Israel would be destroyed. The mystery is seen as the Gentiles being included in the Church as the Jewish reign will end, or else they will be equal (Eph. 3:3-6). 

The Futurist view: They see this passage, chapters 10 and 11, as literal and as a series of extra information as in “parenthetical,” a further, in-depth description of the events of chapters five to nine. The mighty angel is Christ Himself, and the little scroll that contains extra information we do not have in Revelation is explained in the next chapter. Others see this as the prophesies of the O.T. about the Great Tribulation and Israel. Seal up means some things we can’t understand or are not ready for. The mystery is seen as God allowing Satan to have his way during the tribulation; others have suggested this is the start of the Kingdom of God on earth, while others have said this is God’s “predestination” of those who are to be saved, or that God will reveal what it is in His time. 

The Idealist view: They see this passage as an interlude between judgments as was chapter seven. This passage is not in chronological order, but overlaps or further explains these events. The mighty angel is seen as Christ Himself or His representative. A foot in the sea and land refers that he has a message for the whole world. The little scroll contains more prophecies. The seven thunders are seen as a voice to the whole world. Seal up refers to things John was not ready to understand or be able to explain (1 Cor. 13:8-12; 2 Cor. 12:4). The mystery is seen as a reference to Romans 16:25, Ephesians 3:3-6 and Colossians 2:2, the union of Jews and Gentiles. Others see it as God’s purpose in history and human affairs. 

The Historicist view: They see this passage as the time period when Rome fell to the Barbarians in 476 and the rise of the Papacy (The control of the Holy Roman Empire as the Catholic Church). The corrupt Popes become the antichrists and the opposition to the true believers setting up the Reformation in the 16^th century. The mighty angel is seen as Christ Himself (it is interesting that all views see this when the context seems to denote otherwise). The little scroll is the Bible that Christ opens up to us through the Reformers and the printing press. The seven thunders and loud voice are seen as Christ’s challenge to the Catholic Church or the seven crusades. No more delay is seen as the start of the Reformation.

John is taking notes like a typical rabbinic or Greek student, an example of being studious, paying attention to what God is saying, and obeying Him through His most precious Word. This is also about how we are to glorify Him and not just seek what we want to get from Him. God’s judgment is at hand; the angel says there will be no more delays. If this does not strike fear in people, what will?  

• Raised his right hand was a way people at this time proclaimed an oath to vow allegiance in general or a specific task before their god. The book of Daniel also showed this; possibly, John is making the connection to Daniel, as Revelation is closely tied to it (Gen. 14:22-23; Deut 32:40; Dan. 12:7).

• Lives forever and ever refers to the eternal nature of God. As His faithful, we will also be preserved, as we will have a place in His marvelous eternity, heaven. This was also meant to encourage John’s readers who were going though persecutions and imminent martyrdom (Rev. 1:18; 4:9-10; 15:7).

• No more delay. This shows that the waiting is over and time has come. There will be no further postponement or interruption. The prayers of those in chapter six have been heard and God is at work (Dan. 12:7; Hab. 2:3; Mark 13:19; Rev. 2:21; 6: 9-11; 20:3).

• Mystery of God. The entirety of all that has been prophesied in the Old Testament has come or will come to its culmination by this time. All will be known; nothing will be hidden.

• Mighty Angel refers to one who is reflecting and/or carrying out the power of God¾perhaps the appearance of Christ Himself. This angel is not mighty himself (unless it is Christ; however, the word another denotes it is an angel and not Christ. Also, John does not worship him as before), just as we are not mighty; rather, he has God’s anointing in demonstrating faithfulness and obedience. In other Jewish writings (1, 2 and 3^rd Enoch), such angels are depicted with rainbows as crowns, and standing tall and proud, shining as the sun¾much like the Greek god, Atlas. Perhaps, such an image was in God’s mind to send a formidable warning and/or to make His point (Rev. 5:2; 7:1).

• Rainbow normally refers to God’s mercy and grace, which we are called to reflect. Also, this was God’s pledge not to destroy the earth again by water, but leaving room for other means if man’s sins escalate (Gen. 9:8-17; Ezek. 1:26-28; Rev. 4:1-5). Here, it is symbolic language, possibly meant to show the angel’s power and prestige.

• Like the sun. A metaphor for describing someone who reflects the glory of our Lord.

• Legs were like fiery pillars. A metaphor for describing one’s territory, dominion, and/or power. Also alludes to how God led and protected His people during the exodus (Ex. 13:21-22; 14:19-24; Rev. 8:12).

• Little book/small scroll. This is not referring to the big scroll of chapter five as the seals of it have already been opened and examined. This little or small scroll refers to one that is different, or a particular scroll apart from the others. This little scroll, from the context, may refer to what will not be revealed until the time is upon us or when God sees fit (Rev. 6:1-8:1).

• Which lay open. God’s precepts have been made known to us (entirety of God’s Word and/or Revelation up to this point). We have the call and the responsibility to examine and apply them.

• Right foot on the sea, left foot on the land. This suggests the angel’s incredible size and symbolizes that he is coming as God’s representative, pointing to His omnipresence. This term also meant “destiny” as in all creation is in God’s control.

• Seven thunders refers to God’s divine punishment and judgment that fall on those who will not bend to God or accept His love and grace. Perhaps, from the context, this implies that the little scroll’s revelations are too horrific for or are not understandable to us, or that we are not ready to know them. Some have suggested these are commandments that we already know, like the Ten Commandments (2 Cor. 12:2-4; Rev. 8:5; 11:19; 16:18).

• Seal up indicates that the prophecies are closed for review or are preserved until the proper time has come. The indication here is that something has not been disclosed, something God doesn’t want us to know yet (Deut. 29:29; Dan. 8:26; 12:4-9; Rev. 22:10).