Hope: Well vs Source

This is the end scene from the film Corrina Corrina.  Molly sings to her grand-mother who has grown weary after losing her husband. Her countenance tells us that she is sad, understandably, but also that she has lost hope. After tarrying and encouraging her, she begins to sing alongside Molly. Keep this in mind as I have purposely started with the end of the film.

Going back to the beginning, Molly suffered the loss of her mother and became withdrawn and mute. Her father not knowing what to do whilst balancing work becomes overwhelmed and brings in a housekeeper, Corrina.

The loss of Molly’s mother caused her to lose her voice, not just physically but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually. Her grand-mother has also experienced this loss of voice.

When we are caught in situations or the cross fire of circumstances we can ‘lose our breath’. When we lose breath we lose life, the very thing that was keeping us awake inside. A part of us loses hope, ‘the feeling that what is wanted can be had or that events will turn out for the best’.

Molly’s mother was a well of hope. Growing up as a young girl and learning in life, her mother’s role was key. When her mother died, a part of Molly’s hope died with her. She lost her voice because she could no longer see a great outcome to the loss she now bares. Again, her grand-mother also experiences this with the loss of her husband.

Hope comes to us in two functions; for ourselves and for others. Both streams flow into one river.

People can be wells of hope for us, just like Corrina was for Molly. People must never be our source of hope. They can encourage us and re-ignite hopes but they were never created to be our supplier of hope.

Molly lost hope when her mother died. Her grand-mother lost hope when her husband died. Taking age out of the equation, if we are to progress in hope, we must first answer what is our hope and what is its source.

What causes you to lose hope inside? Question yourself.

We must become settled and whole in our hope. This does not happen over-night, life gives us a few knocks but dependent upon your source, the outcome varies.

Corrina is a great example of living out of her source of hope, which allows her to be a well for others rather than being like Molly or her grand-mother, who survived from wells.

Find your hope source and do not become dependent upon wells of hope.  A source can never dry up, wells can.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Internally Shutter-boxed

Man can sometimes mirror machine. Not only has he the ability to function all day and night; sub-sectioning a vast intake whilst constantly re-charging but he also has the capacity to ‘break down’. Human nature has a way of dismissing that which it does not wish to face. Anything that causes internal conflict or outer uncomfortability can cause us to run like prey as if it were conscious of its predator.

Our life is the arena and we are the centre stage of it. All activity concerning us is present in the centre whilst spectators have their active or passive input. Our mind, will and emotions (soul), heart, spirit and physical being are all part of this centre which is affected by the activities of everyday life.

Situations and circumstances (activities of life) trailed alongside their outcomes form us as a people. Their affects shape and help build us into the people who we become and are today. These outcomes can have vibrant or fatal affects on us. We manifest the outcomes our situations and circumstances internally have on us. How we handle the outcomes begin to flow from us. They manifest behaviours and attitudes.

Our arenas; education, religion, work, economy and finance, politics, relationships- love/ family/ friends, culture and other avenues become infected . The exterior gives insight into the interior. How we handle decisions and choices, confusion, beliefs and doubts, unmet desires, frustrations and anger, discouragement, violence and abuse, etc is key to our internal selves.

At any given time or age these impacts on our heart, soul and physical selves still make us prone to the ability to shut ‘ones-self’ down. Today’s society is no better than the ancestors that have lived  before us and those yet to be birthed in a distant future. Even Adam and Eve hid once they had disobeyed God’s instructions (Genesis 3). Life and its hand dealings still have their impact on us.

The problem occurs when we internalise the problems by not handling them well or maybe not at all. We section off the parts we do not want to face. They become little stacker boxes or locked up crates with keys that can only be found in a treasure hunt. Some shut whilst others open. Internally we can hide in every corner or dark valley available to us that allows us to find shade rather than the light we need. We become masters of masquerading rather than transparent beings.

When we begin to shut down internally rather than be honest and face our Goliath’s (giants or mountains) we have a major problem. Not only will we become distant from our real selves but we begin to die inside.

Proverbs 23:7 “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he: Eat and drink, saith he to thee; but his heart is not with thee” (King James Version).

Regardless of religion or culture the above scriptural principle applies. Whatever you think you are, you become. The only way of outgrowing what we become is in changing our thoughts and emotions through our decisions from the impacts of life. We become better or worse people based on the internal attitude and what we have been told of who we are and who we internally choose to be, leading to our external manifested self.

Life is different for every person, some worse than others but all still damaging in a way to that particular individual, which I think we all can agree on. The best advice is that regardless of what has happened, seek help. Whether it be through religion or counsel; never internally shut down or get addicted to something that will numb the pain of an internal bleed. Do not internally box yourself up into compartments and write on them the wounds of what happened. Dealing with every box is beneficial, hard but beneficial to you being ALIVE internally.

We think that because everything looks ok on the outside that all is fine but if the inside of a man is not living then he is walking dead.

Proverbs 4:23 reading from the New Living Translation version of the Bible reads “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life”.

Your heart is central to who you are. When you stop living from it you begin to feel its affects. Life throws some wicked curve balls at us but we can choose to face them and their percussions or internally shutter box; functioning with the lights off. Find a way to not shut down internally but face who you are becoming or have become internally.

 

 

Resisting Venom

Spiderman 3 is one of the best movies you will ever watch, Spidey fan or no Spidey fan; you’ll like it. Not only does Marvel take you on a journey of a masked figurine fighting to keep the streets clean and rid the city of its somewhat un-natural menacing villains but also on a lesson of unforgiveness.

We have all been introduced to the ungodly beauty of unforgiveness, the bitter sister of truth. Unforgiveness is like a human’s moral high ground, the little thing in life we can control all on our own; the decision to forgive a person of their wrongs or hold it against them due to its impact on us as individuals or even sometimes with-held information we may or may not have. Venom is a beautiful demonstration of unforgiveness.

We all, if not most of us, know the introduction of the Venom character in the Spiderman 3 movie. Peter Parker has rejected the healing process of dealing with the death of his uncle. When we refuse to get delivered and healed from things of the past they eventually grow within us; unforgiveness in the case of Peter Parker. To avoid too much of a spoiler alert for those who have not seen this movie, we see Peter Parker’s heartache and pain directly affect his alter ego side, Spiderman. Peter’s unforgiveness opened up a portal for Venom in Spiderman’s life.

Venom from Spiderman

Venom is a liquid life form from another planet which requires a host to bond with in order to survive. Venom is pretty much humanities symbol of unforgiveness. Unforgiveness acts as a substance in which requires a person’s permission in order for it to survive and reproduce; reproduce its ugly family of hate, bitterness, resentment, rage, anger… basically anything that kills life. The longer you hold onto it, the shorter life becomes.

Peter Parker’s unforgiveness and refusal to find out the complete truth and receive healing allowed Venom to survive. The ugly family of unforgiveness allowed Peter to feel somewhat control and justification to act out all cruel emotions. Unforgiveness never produces or allows you to produce anything good, it is incapable of producing life; only death. Peter Parker enjoyed feeling everything that forgiveness would not dare allow him to feel, to think everything that forgiveness would not allow him to think; even act. Forgiveness justifies you acting on the wrongs of others because of hurt.

Unforgiveness even changes physical appearance, a person’s countenance. Spiderman’s suit turned black from red. Life with unforgiveness is fun but short. You can act, think, feel and treat anything and anyone without any regard and take great satisfaction in it, not truly knowing you are its slave and it controls you, not you it.

Sometimes we may be ignorant to the fact that we carry unforgiveness and should check ourselves for anything in our life if need be but if we are not ignorant of it, we have a problem.

Unforgiveness only needs to find one root issue, the problem is we have many. Once it finds one root, it finds others. Unforgiveness becomes stronger and stronger because it finds other roots and creates other roots. Peter was angry not only with his uncle’s death but also his friend Harry Osborn, Mary Jane his on/off girlfriend, work and work colleagues, etc. Unforgiveness had a field day with Peter Parker. All it took was one trigger, one gate and bam there it goes.

Unforgiveness in Peter eventually re-attacked Mary Jane, on purpose. However this was Peter’s wake up call. He realised truth; Venom was not helping him or Spiderman but actually killing them.

There is a time and place for everything. The season of unforgiveness was now over for Peter Parker. He had to get rid of Venom by choosing to forgive.

Healing must take place after deliverance. Forgiving not only those who wronged you but those who you wronged and forgiving yourself. Peter Parker and Spiderman turned back into what he was before unforgiveness took over his life; his true self.

My point is that regardless of the pain, trouble, heart ache, rage and anger fuelled emotions and hate people put you through and can often make you become; choose to forgive them. Don’t let Venom aka unforgiveness take your life and kill you. Resist Venom.

Also checkout the movie Hannibal Rising for a great lesson on Unforgiveness. All monsters come from somewhere.