Author Archives: MzEllen

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Interesting article...

I often get books on psychology sent to me by publishers, and the other day I received Jeffrey Kottler’s On Being a Therapist. The book is now in its fourth edition, and this latest edition “puts the spotlight on the therapist’s role and responsibility to promote issues of diversity, social justice, human rights, and systemic changes within the community and the world at large.”

Whoa: I thought the therapist’s role was to increase the client’s well-being and treat mental illness.

It used to be that therapists just saw clients and sent them a bill. Now — perhaps because the “sending them a bill” part has gotten more difficult in these days of managed care and public skepticism about the profession — they are transforming themselves into superhuman beings who think they can save the entire world. Therapists may have been narcissistic before, but it takes a special kind of narcissism to see one’s own self as a world-saver.

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“All should be forgiven, and the thoughtless especially.”

Leo Tolstoy, Where Love Is (New York, 1915), page 20.

The Lord taught us to forgive at two levels.

Deep in our hearts, forgiveness is unconditional, since God has forgiven us: “Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors” (Matthew 6:12). This forgiveness is absolute, before God.

At the level of our relationships, forgiveness is conditional: “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him” (Luke 17:3). After all, how can one forgive a sin that hasn’t been confessed? For the relationship to be restored, the sinning brother must repent.

But what if he doesn’t repent? Or doesn’t even realize the harm he has done? Sadly, the relationship remains broken. But deep within, “. . . and the thoughtless especially.” This is the most costly forgiveness, because it is unseen, unthanked.

But God sees. As in everything else, all that ultimately matters is who God is, what God says, how God works.

Thoughtless is a post from: Ray Ortlund

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If you ever testify in court, you might wish you could have been as sharp as this policeman. He was being cross-examined by a defense attorney during a felony trial. The lawyer was trying to undermine the police officer's credibility .....

Q: 'Officer --- did you see my client fleeing the scene?'

A: 'No sir. But I subsequently observed a person matching the description of the offender, running several blocks away.'

Q: 'Officer -- who provided this description?'

A: 'The officer who responded to the scene.'

Q: 'A fellow officer provided the description of this so-called offender. Do you trust your fellow officers?'

A: 'Yes, sir. With my life.'

Q: 'With your life? Let me ask you this then officer. Do you have a room where you change your clothes in preparation for your daily duties?'

A: 'Yes sir, we do!'

Q: 'And do you have a locker in the room?'

A: 'Yes sir, I do.'

Q: 'And do you have a lock on your locker?'

A: 'Yes sir.'

Q: 'Now why is it, officer, if you trust your fellow officers with your life, you find it necessary to lock your locker in a room you share with these same officers?'

A: 'You see, sir -- we share the building with the court complex, and sometimes lawyers have been known to walk through that room.'

The courtroom EXPLODED with laughter, and a prompt recess was called. The officer on the stand has been nominated for this year's 'Best Comeback' line -- and we think he'll win.

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Born for This

Pull back the curtains, snap off the string.
This tired and lonely man is offering everything.
Tie up the main mast, boys, we’re going into the storm.
Passion’s not found in roses, but it’s in the thorns.

Farewell to the reckless, I want the real thing.
This life is knocking, son, open up and let the truth ring.
Posing is a past time. Ring a bell for selfishness.
I’m through with fallacy. Whatever happened to progress?

(Push forward. I won’t stop. Keep going till I drop).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Can’t stop).

To all my brothers, to all my brothers’ sons.
You can’t find freedom in money, it has to be won.
Spin your wheels in this graveyard; build your casket of chrome.
You’re on a road to nowhere, boy, and it’s taking you home.

(Push forward. I won’t stop. Keep going till I drop).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Can’t stop).

No one told me I’d pay for this. Drinking pleasure that’s turned to piss.
Standing firm on this sphere of sand. King of the world, yet I see no land.
No one told me how to deal with this. Shooting targets that don’t exist.
Standing firm while I sink in the mud. My heart is pumping, but I have no blood.

For this I was born...born, born for this. For this I was born...born, born for this.
For this I was born...born, born for this. For this I was born...for this.

For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (Upright and standing tall).
For this I was born...born, born for this. (This time I give it all).
For this I was born...for this. (Go...)

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slave2freedom.com

Podcast from "Livin La Vida Low Carb"

I like this: "I can't say that I won't eat sugar ever again, but I can say that I won't eat sugar for the next 120 days."

The podcast is talking about the similarities between drug addiction and sugar addiction - after eating a bunch of sugar, your brain over compensates (carb crash).

If you put some awareness about it, you can learn to understand the relationship between the way you eat and the way you feel.

Food journaling...not fat, carbs, etc.  Just write down what you eat and how you feel...and then how you feel an hour later...then you can see the connection.

Sugar - the most addictive substance on the face of the planet.

(note:  I've been off flour for a month and I feel good - the first few days was rough...maybe it's time to fight sugar)

Extreme  cravings?

Everything Starts With Breakfast

- blood sugar is naturally low - if you don't eat first thing in the morning, protein, your blood sugar will never stabilize.

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Amanda and I went to a little church today (very little, there was a total of 15 people).

The pastor talked about pride and humility.  One point I remember is that our pride will be dealt with.  Outside the family of God, it will be dealt with by the Righteous Judge.  Inside the family of God, it will be dealt with by the Loving Father.

"...Wait till your father gets home..."

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Message to the Sick; Pope John Paul II

Pope John Paul II gave his “Message to the Sick” in 1999, in Mexico.  Diagnosed in 1996 with Parkinson’s disease, he did not write words of mere platitudes, he wrote with real meaning in his life.  He would have had a taste of the progression of his own illness and the words were borne out of his own painful experience.

The pope’s questions, “Why do we suffer?  For what purpose do we suffer?  Is there any meaning in human suffering?  Can physical or moral suffering be a positive experience?” were not rhetorical for him…he asked real questions and they had real meaning in his life.

This man, the most visible religious figure on the planet, did not  hide from life or to live a life of complaint…his suffering pointed him to the basis of his faith – Christ, who died for the sins of the world, was now with His servant who suffered.

Each person who suffers, whether physical pain, or emotional or mental, has the opportunity to use their suffering in positive ways, or to wallow in negativity.  The pope chose the positive, ever pointing to the source of his hope.

A man, dying of cancer, had spent years turning away from God.  He found hope in the Psalms of David and turned to Christ in the last days of his life.  When he wrote his own funeral, it pointed others to the source of his hope.  After that funeral, his widow found comfort in the message that her brother, who had also spent years in rebellion, had returned to the church because of the way her husband’s suffering had pointed to Christ.

That widow looks back at life, seeing years of infertility, the losses of pregnancies and the pain of her premature child…she finds comfort in the knowledge that beyond the grave, there is peace and fullness of life.  She understands now that she would not have the strength and compassion if she had not felt the suffering in her life.

Pope John Paul had a greater understanding than most people – when we suffer, we partake in the sufferings of Christ.  He died in April, 2005 – 12 years after his diagnosis.  He spent those years pointing others to the source of his hope.

It is in this pointing to Christ that we find meaning of pain and suffering in our human existence.

With these thoughts, I have wanted to arouse in each one of you the feelings which will lead you to live your current trials with supernatural sense; discovering in them an occasion to see God in the midst of darkness and doubt; and to gaze at the broad horizons which are visible from atop the crosses of our everyday lives – Pope John Paul II, January 24, 1999

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OMG - an analog teleprompter

Umm...if this is all the PDS crowd has to complain about - funny.

I'm reading about how scary it is that Sarah Palin cannot remember her "core issues" without writing them on the palm of her hand.

It apparently hasn't occurred to any of of them that it might not have been the words she was noting, it might have been the order she wanted to address them in.

I know that when I've given speeches or talks, I can't do it without pages of notes.  This was a 45 minute speech done without dual teleprompters.

And they're making a fuss about 7 words written on a hand?

Palin must be scaring the pants off of somebody.