“ It builds fiber ! ”
Ever heard that before ? Coming from a missionary syndicate , I sure did .
unmanageable events “ make character . ”
But they do n’t . Not always . And not even with any kind of geometrical regularity .
Difficult eventscanbuild character , but it does n’t mean they will .
But I digress .
I mention rock tumbling , because it is a good model of a trying process which leads to beautiful event . If you topple clod of snowflake obsidian , jasper , amethyst or peacock blue , you usually terminate up with something beautiful .
But if you put limestone or sandstone in a tilt tumbler , you do n’t get a beautiful polished stone at the end of the acrobatics process . You get ugly , crumbled bits or , at the very good , an ugly object with the sharpness knocked politic .
A rock hound might say , charitably , that the upshot of your tumbling experiments “ lacked character reference . ”
So – does this have in mind anything when applied to humans ?
It could have in mind that what is beneath the open is revealed in times of stress .
As Christ says in Luke 6:45 :
“ A good piece out of the skilful hoarded wealth of his meat bringeth forth that which is good ; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his essence bringeth forth that which is evil : for of the copiousness of the heart his rima oris speaketh . ”
A good coating of this poesy is to never entirely trust someone who brags of evil . Such as the guy who talks about how he put one over on a previous clientele pardner , or cite that it would be really easy to steal from a particular entrepot . Sometimes it is a thought experimentation , sure , but you may tell what is in the heart . The difficulty is that there is both full and evil in every man ’s heart . You must know this and give some forgiveness to minor sin , knowing that no one is perfect , while at the same sentence trying to determine the day-to-day actions of an individual to know whether he is generally desirable of faith .
President John F. Kennedy suppose :
“ A man does what he must – in spite of personal aftermath , in spite of obstacle and danger and pressure sensation – and that is the basis of all human ethical motive . ”
No , it is n’t . It may be noble to iron out on in the face of obstacle and dangers and pressures and the rick of personal consequences , but it certainly is n’t moral in and of itself . And it is no cornerstone for morality .
The odious Aleister Crowley wrote “ Do what grand wilt shall be the whole of the Law . ”
This is literally Satanic , as is JFK ’s quote . The basis of morality is not Man himself . We are all crumbly lump of limestone and sandstone unless transformed by the fire of the Holy Spirit . There is nothing unconditioned in us worthy of polishing unless it is first grant by God .
So it is NOT just the case of hoi polloi being beautiful inside and stress bring out their unlearned , complete , lovely , awesome , super - special humanness . No .
There must first be something worthy of polishing , and we do n’t get that on our own . We are vicious from invention .
But once there is that underlying stone which is suitable of polish up – a immobile foundation , so to address – then strain can indeed wreak out beauty in an individual . My mother is an example of this . She had serious fault in her life as a untried cleaning lady – as do all of us – but grow through stresses most of us can not imagine , into a womanhood who is thoughtful , loving , patient , genial , long - distress , and a howling grandmother to her grandchild .
Other women of her old age still act like selfish teenagers , toodling around in R.V. , still listen to crap LX medicine while harassing masses that do n’t assume facemasks or who take their shaver to the park during the current scamdemic .
Stresses need to pass on something worthy of polish or shining will not come about . Some people shoot themselves when under strain . Others drink . Yet others eat .
The stress summons does n’t bring out beauty in these subject . And the analogy of stone - polishing fail here , as unlike stones , we do have some choice as to how we respond to pressure .
If you binge - eat when stress come about , you finish up fatter and uglier than before . If you instead pour out yourself into fasting and prayer and Bible - reading , you will go forth from the process more sizeable both spiritually and physically .
You have to tumble with the tumbler , so to verbalize .
The last few years have been a time of interesting personal stress . It has been a time of big breakthrough and pleasure , and majuscule frustration and release . We added two novel minor to the crime syndicate , while losing a tike to miscarriage and losing Dad in a car stroke . We learned to be a nonage in a foreign nation and we learned which people were true friends and which were not . We learned to suffer our fear of alien situations , work up our own house , dealing with paperwork and have a baby with minimum help .
I have many more gray hairs than when I started , but I pray I ’ve tumble well . It has been a heckuva ride , living in the jungle , rust weird food , go a terrific biography filled with pyromania and dreadful endotoxins …
…
… and now it ’s out of the frying pan and into the fire , as we maneuver back to a country that is spinning out of command .
Or tumbling , I suppose you could say .
If you ’re stressed , stay in the Word . It ’s a huge service and will aid you roll with the tumbler . And remember – no one get out alive , include the revolting . In a strange path , I get that quite satisfying .
