The Words of the McCarthy Family
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The Words of the McCarthy Family |
It’s God’s Day.. Here are some things about God that I admire and love
God is so patient... too patient sometimes... but, I guess if you’ve been around for eternity, have always been and always will be... you develop patience. I know God is patient because he doesn’t always get want he wants when he wants it. That surprises people sometimes when I say God doesn’t always get what he wants. Some people think that being God means you get your way all the time. You thought that was a part of being God, right?... like the movie “Bruce Almighty”... actually, people who get what they want all the time aren’t very patient... and they aren’t usually very nice. God is patient (and nice.)
God’s patience is a true patience. There is such a thing as “false patience.” There can be a false patience when we just lower our expectations in order to reduce anxiety and the pressure as we begin to, instead, tolerate mediocrity in ourselves and others. I can appear, in that case, to have patience but, in actuality, I’m merely lowering my expectation threshold. If I lower my expectations of what you can be, what you can achieve, I can better handle the stress of disappointment. “Oh well, honey, better luck next time... “Gee, Dad... you are so understanding.” It seems so... but sometimes we are just cheating the people who depend on us for guidance and inspiration... in other words... the people we are supposed to love. Without a vision, the people perish. Having a vision takes patience, especially when the people don’t share the vision, or worse, believe it but just don’t follow. Why, you could get so mad you could throw a couple of heavy stone tablets off a mountain.
God’s patience is true because God can still embrace you in your failures and shortcomings without ever relinquishing the clear perspective of who you truly are and what you are fully capable of achieving in your life... he embraces you, picks you up and reminds you, once again, of who you truly can be. That’s true patience... with an unwavering commitment to the vision of your greatest potential.
Atheists like Richard Dawkins always point out how unkind the God of the Bible appears. I think maybe the people who were writing about God back then probably had a different view of kindness. I think, generally, over time we get a clearer understanding about the nature of God. God is very kind.
How do I know God is kind? It’s obvious. Just go to the supermarket and pick up an orange. Next, peel the orange open. What do you see? If God wasn’t kind, would he have made an orange with sections? It’s as if he were saying... ”here, have a piece... and while you at it... why don’t you invite a friend to have a piece, too!... Where’s that Dawkins?... get over here you old silly atheist... you.. old Dawky... the Dawk!... Dawkster!... have a piece of orange... lets be friends” Now that’s kind. Next time someone peels an orange... just tell them that God made the orange in sections so that it would be easier to share and make new friends.
In other words, God is not a self-absorbed narcissist. He’s not into himself. Think about it... God is so selfless, so humble, so low key... HE’S INVISIBLE... he lets his actions speak for him... that’s the true path of integrity. God isn’t into himself... he is into something else. God is into us... into you. The Scripture says that God knows the number of hairs on your head! Now, that’s detailed information requiring a very high degree of interest... especially if you consider that, for some of us, that hair follicle number has to be updated every day!!
You see, that’s what God is trying to teach us... In this world, we think, in order to be known, to be understood, we must call attention to ourselves. We confuse “fame” with “being known.” In Hollywood, you need an agent. That’s where one goes who is in pursuit of fame.
But the true path to be made known is in the things that you do, the deeds that you perform, the good works of your hands... they all testify about who you are and it is they that make you known. It seems a paradox... God is invisible, but the “heavens proclaim his glory” and “his eternal power and glory have been made known by the things that he has made.” God is known by doing. If you become “invisible” you will be made known, too and you will never be forgotten.