Words of Compassion and Wisdom from Pauley

I am quickly becoming a Twitter-holic. I mainly follow close friends, health and fitness trends, a variety of news sources and a few celebrities. I am a fan of NCIS and Pauley Perrette plays one of my favorite characters, Abby Sciuto. So, I recently started following her on Twitter. I have grown to love and respect her "real" persona. This morning she posted the following feed. I want to share and direct quote it with you. I hope it makes you think and take action to do something to serve your fellow man. It brought both my wife and I to tears. 

Please read, meditate on it, and do something positive for those in your community.

Peace,

Mike

Pauley Perrette (@PauleyP)

Posted Sunday 27th November 2011 from Twitlonger 

PLEASE READ THIS From Me: I work with the homeless Always have They are a part of our communities & they are people that matter. I know their names Many struggle with addiction Many are veterans Many have faced medical problems or hardships you may not understand & they have stories. Brandon Lambert comes to my church homeless lunch I volunteer at & became one of my very best friends. I hang out with this loud mouthed funny scoundrel with a Irish brogue all the time. I've spent Thanksgiving & Christmas with him for years now in the parking lot where he lives & I love him & he makes me laugh. I introduced him to my family & he had to meet any guy I was seeing. Brandon is 39 years old. His problems started years ago when his son was killed & he started hitting the bottle & the pipe. He had gotten clean, not sober, but clean & was trying. He was always filthy & I always gave him handi-wipes, huge hugs, batteries for his radio etc. & always told him I loved him . He LOVED music & I'd play him my new tracks before anyone else heard them. Brandon was hit by a car & killed on Nov. 1st. I've spent weeks looking for him & finally got the news.#RIPBrandonLambert You were SO loved. You mattered so much to me & I will miss you everyday. You were just AWESOME to me & my beloved friend. Please consider actually talking to a homeless person in your town. You might make a friend for life. His life was cut too short. Love you brother. #RIP

http://www.twitlonger.com/show/edd2r3 

What REALLY does MATTER?

Four days ago I had oral surgery: three lower molars were extracted. I am a grinder. I am systematically and relentlessly destroying my own teeth. But, this blog isn’t about my oral woes. It is about some things I have observed since I have been “under the weather,” so-to-speak.  I am a pretty social person. And, I tend to speak, or type, what is on my mind. Sometimes this is good. Sometimes this is not so good. Never-the-less, it is how I tend to roll.

Over the past few years, I have been examining my faith and belief structure. I do not want to bore my regular readers with re-visiting earlier posts. Those of you who are interested can backtrack and catch up. But, during my recent recovery, some behavioral issues have stood out to me from some religious folks whom I have known, loved and respected for most of my life. I thought I would share some of these stories with you as I process through how they have made me feel. Perhaps they will also help you in some small way.

First, I posted an online article, Swearing to Make Your Point, I had read regarding whether profanity should be used, or not, in professional slide decks and presentations. I am not one to go around “cursing people out” when I am angry. However, I do believe there are times and places where it is acceptable to be a little freer with speech than others. For instance, I am not going to go into the gym and say, “Come on guys, let’s go work our hineys off.”  I’m going to say, “Let’s kick ass!” I don’t really care if you think “ass” is profanity, or not. Truth of the matter is ass=butt=glutes=hiney=hind end. Deal with it. However, someone condemned my tolerance and occasional situational use of profanity by spiritually condemning me while also telling me how disappointed my parents would be in my behavior. Really? I am 52-years-old and you are going to try to shame me by bringing my deceased parents into the picture? It was a bit ridiculous, unbelievable and hurtful all at the same time. Fortunately, I had a great relationship with my parents. And, they loved me unconditionally. The love and acceptance I received from my parents was not based upon my behavior. Just like the love and acceptance I receive from my Lord is not based upon my behavior. In all actuality, my parents would not be upset with me. They would be upset with the insensitive comment from the other person questioning their love and acceptance of their baby boy. I tend to think that the Lord might feel the same way.

Next, I have been watching a lot of shows on Netflix as I recover. An old favorite of mine was “Dark Shadows.” So, I posted the other night I was watching this old classic. The question arises, “Seriously? Vampires?” Yes, it is called entertainment and fiction. I tend to go through this every so often. Many Christians believe that shows such as Twilight and Harry Potter should not be watched by Believers. They genuinely believe there is a spiritual overtone damaging to one’s walk with God. My response is…it is FICTION! To think such a thing, people with this mindset must really still think Satan is red, has horns and carries a pitchfork like the Halloween character. That is how you would liken the appearance to a fictional movie, right? I tend to find Satan’s cronies look more like “normal” church-goers than vampires. Seriously, isn’t that how he rolls?

I have been trying to get back to the basics: love God, love man and share God’s love with all we meet. That is the entire foundation of the Gospel. Everything else is out of my control and is between individual mankind and their God. This past week, instead of having to argue or defend something as trivial as language and entertainment, a simple, “How are you feeling post surgery?” Or, “I’m praying for your recovery,” would have been so much more Christ-like and welcomed. I want to be the, “I’m praying for you,” guy. Not the, judging and condemning man that I, unfortunately, once was.