Psalm 40:1 I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.
Oh Friends, it’s Sabbath time again. Wow! It comes around so quickly; that time for meeting, greeting, praising, fellowship and spiritual renewal. Today I saw a calendar that showcased a dark blue, tinted picture of a narrow river with a bunch of rapids and a small waterfall flowing through a gorge of massive rock. Sitting on the other side, on the edge of a cliff is a lone human, dressed in coat etc. to withstand the spray and cold coming from the rapidly moving water. Gnarled branches of aged trees overhang the river. It’s a beautiful scene which gives the impression of being that way since time began, undisturbed by man or beast. The lone human is just sitting there in contemplative mode, elbows resting on his knees, taking it all in. Below the picture, simply stated in large capitals is the word ‘PURPOSE’, and under that is a reputed quote of Mahatma Ghandi: ‘There is more to life than increasing speed.’ And isn’t that gospel mih people! But you can’t say that to this particular generation, for more than at any other time in man’s history we’re focused on speed. Our motto seems to be faster and smaller. Everyday brings a new technological device that’s faster, and oftimes smaller, than its predecessor. So we now expect all our equipment to transmit information in the blink of an eye, getting impatient and angry if we have to wait a few seconds, forgetting that it’s still basically a mechanical device controlled by coded words and numbers that must take time to move information from one place to another. This impatience plus the psychological ploys of the manufacturers and advertising agencies cause us to replace perfectly good equipment for stuff that’s faster and handier, but often not as technologically sound or error free. In all the haste to get the stuff to market to beat the analysts’ projections and upgrade profits, lots of shortcuts are taken, resulting in improperly tested devices and software. As the old adage goes; ‘more haste, less speed.’ And right now our entire life is built around speed, and not necessarily efficient speed. This Scrip-Bit is a perfect example of our very short attention spans. Some people claim it’s too long, when it only takes about five minutes to read. However, if I sent them five e-mails that took a minute each, their complaints would decrease. We’ve grown so accustomed to the ten or fifteen seconds sound bytes that anything much longer gets us confused and irritable. A new illness has even been invented to deal with it; Attention Disorder Deficiency Syndrome. Sadly though, it’s the children who suffer the most since from infancy they’ve been bombarded with quick images and messages, plus all the new video and computer games highlight speed. It’s obvious then that they will grow up expecting everything to happen quickly, and if it doesn’t, they get irritable and throw tantrums and are subsequently diagnosed with ADS and given all sorts of unnecessary, mood altering and harmful drugs. Just think back to our youth, few of us really had short attention spans because we were taught to pay attention and punished if we didn’t do it reasonably well. But Friends, this rushing and insistence on speed only increases our stress levels, unnecessarily inviting all the havoc it can bring to our lives. We need to be more often like the lone human in the picture, in a contemplative frame of mind. Though the water is rushing along, his mind is taking its time. And contrary to what I might have intimated at the start, time doesn’t go along at different speeds, but at the same speed all the time. (smile) It’s our misperception that makes it feel so. To be truly successful in this life and live to a ripe old age like Methuselah, we need to do like Bruh David says in the Bit. ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.’ Oh Friends, that’s what life is all about; making our supplications to Almighty God, then waiting patiently for Him to do whatever we desire. They call patience a virtue because it’s hard to come by, especially in these times of dire speed, but those who acquire it have a much better chance of mastering the intricacies of life, for everything takes time, even our new toys that operate in nano seconds or even smaller bits. Like Bruh Paul says: ‘But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience (perseverance) wait (eagerly) for it.’ (Rom.8:25) Yes my people, whatever we need, want, expect or hope for must be patiently but eagerly awaited, while we keep pressing on. We always have a part to play, and once we’ve done it, then we must learn to wait on the Most High God Jehovah to do His part in His time. Beseeching and pleading won’t make Him move any quicker because sometimes that’s the exact lesson, patience, He’s trying to teach us, trying to see if we really believe all the things we tell others about Him. And I can testify to that from personal experience ever since I began writing the Bit. Remember, He’s the Master and we the servants. We have to do His will, not the other way around, as some of us believe and behave. If we meet His goal, His expectations, then He’ll treat us the way Bruh David says: ‘He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings (steps). And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.’ (Ps.40:2-3) And that Friends, is our PURPOSE in this life: to LOVE our God, LIVE our Faith and SPREAD His Word, so that others may trust, believe in and glorify Him. More tomorrow on this topic, God willing. Till then, slow down, smell the flowers, enjoy a baby’s gurgle and an old-timer’s memories, admire the heavens in all their god-given splendour, and wait patiently on our God. He will do all He’s promised. Much LOVE!…too much speed kills…but patience endures forever…
Oh Friends, it’s Sabbath time again. Wow! It comes around so quickly; that time for meeting, greeting, praising, fellowship and spiritual renewal. Today I saw a calendar that showcased a dark blue, tinted picture of a narrow river with a bunch of rapids and a small waterfall flowing through a gorge of massive rock. Sitting on the other side, on the edge of a cliff is a lone human, dressed in coat etc. to withstand the spray and cold coming from the rapidly moving water. Gnarled branches of aged trees overhang the river. It’s a beautiful scene which gives the impression of being that way since time began, undisturbed by man or beast. The lone human is just sitting there in contemplative mode, elbows resting on his knees, taking it all in. Below the picture, simply stated in large capitals is the word ‘PURPOSE’, and under that is a reputed quote of Mahatma Ghandi: ‘There is more to life than increasing speed.’ And isn’t that gospel mih people! But you can’t say that to this particular generation, for more than at any other time in man’s history we’re focused on speed. Our motto seems to be faster and smaller. Everyday brings a new technological device that’s faster, and oftimes smaller, than its predecessor. So we now expect all our equipment to transmit information in the blink of an eye, getting impatient and angry if we have to wait a few seconds, forgetting that it’s still basically a mechanical device controlled by coded words and numbers that must take time to move information from one place to another. This impatience plus the psychological ploys of the manufacturers and advertising agencies cause us to replace perfectly good equipment for stuff that’s faster and handier, but often not as technologically sound or error free. In all the haste to get the stuff to market to beat the analysts’ projections and upgrade profits, lots of shortcuts are taken, resulting in improperly tested devices and software. As the old adage goes; ‘more haste, less speed.’ And right now our entire life is built around speed, and not necessarily efficient speed. This Scrip-Bit is a perfect example of our very short attention spans. Some people claim it’s too long, when it only takes about five minutes to read. However, if I sent them five e-mails that took a minute each, their complaints would decrease. We’ve grown so accustomed to the ten or fifteen seconds sound bytes that anything much longer gets us confused and irritable. A new illness has even been invented to deal with it; Attention Disorder Deficiency Syndrome. Sadly though, it’s the children who suffer the most since from infancy they’ve been bombarded with quick images and messages, plus all the new video and computer games highlight speed. It’s obvious then that they will grow up expecting everything to happen quickly, and if it doesn’t, they get irritable and throw tantrums and are subsequently diagnosed with ADS and given all sorts of unnecessary, mood altering and harmful drugs. Just think back to our youth, few of us really had short attention spans because we were taught to pay attention and punished if we didn’t do it reasonably well. But Friends, this rushing and insistence on speed only increases our stress levels, unnecessarily inviting all the havoc it can bring to our lives. We need to be more often like the lone human in the picture, in a contemplative frame of mind. Though the water is rushing along, his mind is taking its time. And contrary to what I might have intimated at the start, time doesn’t go along at different speeds, but at the same speed all the time. (smile) It’s our misperception that makes it feel so. To be truly successful in this life and live to a ripe old age like Methuselah, we need to do like Bruh David says in the Bit. ‘I waited patiently for the Lord; and he inclined unto me, and heard my cry.’ Oh Friends, that’s what life is all about; making our supplications to Almighty God, then waiting patiently for Him to do whatever we desire. They call patience a virtue because it’s hard to come by, especially in these times of dire speed, but those who acquire it have a much better chance of mastering the intricacies of life, for everything takes time, even our new toys that operate in nano seconds or even smaller bits. Like Bruh Paul says: ‘But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience (perseverance) wait (eagerly) for it.’ (Rom.8:25) Yes my people, whatever we need, want, expect or hope for must be patiently but eagerly awaited, while we keep pressing on. We always have a part to play, and once we’ve done it, then we must learn to wait on the Most High God Jehovah to do His part in His time. Beseeching and pleading won’t make Him move any quicker because sometimes that’s the exact lesson, patience, He’s trying to teach us, trying to see if we really believe all the things we tell others about Him. And I can testify to that from personal experience ever since I began writing the Bit. Remember, He’s the Master and we the servants. We have to do His will, not the other way around, as some of us believe and behave. If we meet His goal, His expectations, then He’ll treat us the way Bruh David says: ‘He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet upon a rock, and established my goings (steps). And he hath put a new song in my mouth, even praise unto our God: many shall see it, and fear, and shall trust in the Lord.’ (Ps.40:2-3) And that Friends, is our PURPOSE in this life: to LOVE our God, LIVE our Faith and SPREAD His Word, so that others may trust, believe in and glorify Him. More tomorrow on this topic, God willing. Till then, slow down, smell the flowers, enjoy a baby’s gurgle and an old-timer’s memories, admire the heavens in all their god-given splendour, and wait patiently on our God. He will do all He’s promised. Much LOVE!…too much speed kills…but patience endures forever…
SCRIP-BITS 