Just Continue That Thought...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-10) from his book, Spirituality for the Rest of Us: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Knowing God (p. 217). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Maybe you have noticed this or maybe you have felt it or done it. As Larry says, “Over the years the bar to entry is slowly raised by those who are already in. The excuse is always the same: A desire to keep the unqualified out and to protect the reputation of the profession. The result is a greater sense of exclusivity and often a set of rules and regulations that would keep the people raising the bar from getting in themselves if they had to start over.” We’re seeing that right now in our desire to regulate people from immigrating to our country from another country.   The truth is the only people who have not immigrated to the US are the American Indians.   I’ve done some work on finding about my ancestors. I don’t think m...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-10) from his book, Spirituality for the Rest of Us: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Knowing God    (p. 205). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) Have you found that so?   Larry says, “But if I know I'm being watched, I'll most often do the right thing, even if I don't want to. That's why we slow down when we see a cop in the rearview mirror. Why a sailor's language cleans up in the presence of Mom. Why the kids never steal a cookie when the whole family is in the kitchen.” He goes on, “Unfortunately, our culture's love affair with privacy has elevated it to the status of a divine right. The result is that we now have large islands of secrecy and anonymity where we used to have transparency. It's supposedly no one's business what I watch or download in the privacy of my home. Child psychologists tell me my children's rooms are off limits. Lawye...

A thought by Larry Osborne, (2009-04-10) from his book, Spirituality for the Rest of Us: A Down-to-Earth Guide to Knowing (p. 187). The Crown Publishing Group. Kindle Edition. (Click on the title to go to Amazon.com to buy the book.) We have been sucked into this deep desire to live to our full potential, thinking that was what God wanted from us.   But Larry has a different spin on it. He says, “Potential is a harsh mistress—seductive, never satisfied, prone to exaggeration, nearly impossible to figure out. Those who pursue her inevitably end up in the poisoned land of self-centered priorities and me-first decisions.” “But it's a quest that's often justified with pious platitudes about following God's calling and using all the gifts we've been given.” “However, God's highest calling won't be found there. It's found on another path, far removed from the ‘me-first’ orientation of the maximized potential crowd. It's found on a seldom ...