It’s easy to forget sometimes that everyone has a story to tell if we take the time to listen. We are so accustomed to hearing the stories of people in the news that we sometimes lose track of the fact that the random stranger on the bus also has a fascinating story about where they came from and how they got to be where they are. The sheer variety of paths taken in this world, from farmers to CEOs to homeless people to world travelers, is indicative of how much we can learn from each individual. Sometimes the shy, quiet person at work has the most amazing life story and the biggest dreams; it is up to us to take the time to find out.
Some people travel a path of wealth and privilege, while others struggle with only themselves to rely on, and both have great stories to tell. Each person learns lessons, makes choices, and develops a unique perspective, which only they can claim and share. Even two people who have had very similar lives will have slightly different experiences, leading them to a different point of view, so each person remains a treasure trove waiting to be explored. When we take the time to ask questions and listen, we find that every person has a fascinating story to tell and an utterly unique perspective from which to tell it.
Bearing this in mind, we have the opportunity to approach the world around us in a new way. There is never any reason to be bored at a party, or on the bus, or in a conversation with a stranger. When we retain the spark of curiosity and the warmth required to open someone up, we always have in front of us the makings of a great story. All we have to do is ask
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
The Real Prison
The Real Prison
Chaplain Allen Tanner
Society often reads about correctional facilities and inmates, but many fail to understand what a prison really is. You see the real prison is not the one the outsiders know.
The real prison is different. It's a loneliness, which sinks its teeth into the very souls of men. It's a prison, which is overlooked and unrecorded by newspapers, seldom read about in books, rarely portrayed on the screen; it is a place where people strive to find themselves. It's a place of both hope and hopelessness, the drama of people paying a debt for years, knowing that their debt can never be paid in full. It's a million dreams that never can be fulfilled. It's too many tears without laughter, too much emotional darkness without light. It's a routine that makes living a weary task.
The real prison is more formidable than high walls, fences, and iron bars. It's the bitterness of being without friends; it's the unhappiness of an undisciplined life. Where discipline is neglected, life wanders into bondage--bondage to habits and things that dictates life's direction.
The real prison is a world that does not listen to the cries of many who are begging for friendship. It is a place where people live whose very existence has been forgotten by a world that is unable to accept them...a world that shouts contempt for the mixed up, fumbling society of misfits that are held in its grip.
The real prison is where a worried mothers face studies the face of a son who was once her pride and joy; her heart broken because drugs are destroying him, and there is nothing she can do about it. It’s when a loving grandmother lies silently in her bed at night, crying with a prayer in her heart for the wayward granddaughter she loves and cherishes, It's the constant thought of a friend who has failed you.
This is the real prison. No bars of steel, locked doors, or fences. A person is in a real prison when he forgets that there are other people in this world beside himself, and that they need to be respected also. A person is in a real prison when he cannot be honest with those who believe in him. When a man cannot seek forgiveness, serenity, and peace, and becomes to blind to see God's goodness around him, then that man is in the real prison, because you see, The Real Prison is within the heart of the man
Chaplain Allen Tanner
Society often reads about correctional facilities and inmates, but many fail to understand what a prison really is. You see the real prison is not the one the outsiders know.
The real prison is different. It's a loneliness, which sinks its teeth into the very souls of men. It's a prison, which is overlooked and unrecorded by newspapers, seldom read about in books, rarely portrayed on the screen; it is a place where people strive to find themselves. It's a place of both hope and hopelessness, the drama of people paying a debt for years, knowing that their debt can never be paid in full. It's a million dreams that never can be fulfilled. It's too many tears without laughter, too much emotional darkness without light. It's a routine that makes living a weary task.
The real prison is more formidable than high walls, fences, and iron bars. It's the bitterness of being without friends; it's the unhappiness of an undisciplined life. Where discipline is neglected, life wanders into bondage--bondage to habits and things that dictates life's direction.
The real prison is a world that does not listen to the cries of many who are begging for friendship. It is a place where people live whose very existence has been forgotten by a world that is unable to accept them...a world that shouts contempt for the mixed up, fumbling society of misfits that are held in its grip.
The real prison is where a worried mothers face studies the face of a son who was once her pride and joy; her heart broken because drugs are destroying him, and there is nothing she can do about it. It’s when a loving grandmother lies silently in her bed at night, crying with a prayer in her heart for the wayward granddaughter she loves and cherishes, It's the constant thought of a friend who has failed you.
This is the real prison. No bars of steel, locked doors, or fences. A person is in a real prison when he forgets that there are other people in this world beside himself, and that they need to be respected also. A person is in a real prison when he cannot be honest with those who believe in him. When a man cannot seek forgiveness, serenity, and peace, and becomes to blind to see God's goodness around him, then that man is in the real prison, because you see, The Real Prison is within the heart of the man
Demoilishing Anger and Resentment
Demolishing Anger’s Walls
Resentment
Allen Tanner
Anger, when channeled into the pursuit of change, can be a useful tool in our emotional palette. Most people experience anger, some more than others. It is when anger has no outlet and morphs into resentment that it carries with it the potential to cause great turmoil. Allowing us to assign blame for the pain we are feeling, thereby easing it, resentment tends to smolder relentlessly just below the surface of our awareness, eroding our peace of mind.
The target of our resentment grows ever more wicked in our minds and we rue the day we first encountered them. But resentment is merely another hue on the emotional palette and therefore within the realm of our conscious control. We can choose to let go of our resentment and to move on with our lives, no matter how painful the event that incited it. Hanging onto resentment in our hearts does not serve us in any way. Successfully divesting ourselves of resentful feelings can be difficult, however, because doing so forces us to mentally and emotionally confront the original source of anger.
When we cease assigning blame, we realize that our need to hold someone or something responsible for our feelings has harmed us. We thought we were coping with our hurt when in fact we were holding onto that hurt with a vice grip. To release resentment, we must shift our attention from those we resent back toward ourselves by thinking of our own needs. Performing a short ceremony can help you quell resentful feelings by giving tangible form to your emotions. You may want to write down your feelings and then burn the paper and close your ceremony by wishing them well.
When you can find compassion in your heart, you know you are on your way to healing. Free of resentment, we have much more energy and attention to devote to our personal development. We can fill the spaces it left behind with unconditional acceptance and joy. And, as a result of our subsequent freedom from resentment, blessings can once again enter our lives as the walls we built to contain our anger have been demolished
Resentment
Allen Tanner
Anger, when channeled into the pursuit of change, can be a useful tool in our emotional palette. Most people experience anger, some more than others. It is when anger has no outlet and morphs into resentment that it carries with it the potential to cause great turmoil. Allowing us to assign blame for the pain we are feeling, thereby easing it, resentment tends to smolder relentlessly just below the surface of our awareness, eroding our peace of mind.
The target of our resentment grows ever more wicked in our minds and we rue the day we first encountered them. But resentment is merely another hue on the emotional palette and therefore within the realm of our conscious control. We can choose to let go of our resentment and to move on with our lives, no matter how painful the event that incited it. Hanging onto resentment in our hearts does not serve us in any way. Successfully divesting ourselves of resentful feelings can be difficult, however, because doing so forces us to mentally and emotionally confront the original source of anger.
When we cease assigning blame, we realize that our need to hold someone or something responsible for our feelings has harmed us. We thought we were coping with our hurt when in fact we were holding onto that hurt with a vice grip. To release resentment, we must shift our attention from those we resent back toward ourselves by thinking of our own needs. Performing a short ceremony can help you quell resentful feelings by giving tangible form to your emotions. You may want to write down your feelings and then burn the paper and close your ceremony by wishing them well.
When you can find compassion in your heart, you know you are on your way to healing. Free of resentment, we have much more energy and attention to devote to our personal development. We can fill the spaces it left behind with unconditional acceptance and joy. And, as a result of our subsequent freedom from resentment, blessings can once again enter our lives as the walls we built to contain our anger have been demolished
The Son Is Always Shining
The Sun Is Always Shining
Remember the Sun
Allen J. Tanner
There are times when gloom or darkness causes us to momentarily lose sight of the light. Although it is at these times when the thought of the sun which God created, can help us. Its warm, glowing rays brighten even our thoughts, and it’s good to remember that despite appearances the sun is shining right now. We may not be able to see it at this very moment, but if clouds block our view, they are only filtering the sun’s light temporarily. If darkness has fallen, we know that the sun is still shining at this very moment somewhere not too far away, and it’s only a matter of time before it will shine on us again.
When we remember that the sun is still shining, we know that things are still in motion in the universe. Even if life feels like it is at a standstill, sometimes all we need to do is have faith and wait for the time when God’s perfect plan is in place. Or we can we can choose to follow the cues of the sun and continue doing our work and shining our light, even when we can’t yet see results. In doing so we exercise our patience, making sure we are prepared when opportunity knocks and all other elements of God’s plan are in their right and perfect places.
The sun also reminds us that our own shining truth is never extinguished. Our light shines within us at all times, no matter what else occurs around us. Though the sun gives us daily proof of its existence, sometimes our belief in our own light requires more time. If we think back, however, we can find moments when it showed itself and trust that we will see it again. Like the sun, our light is the energy that connects us to the movements of the universe and the cycles of life that God created and is present at all times, whether we feel its glow or not
Remember the Sun
Allen J. Tanner
There are times when gloom or darkness causes us to momentarily lose sight of the light. Although it is at these times when the thought of the sun which God created, can help us. Its warm, glowing rays brighten even our thoughts, and it’s good to remember that despite appearances the sun is shining right now. We may not be able to see it at this very moment, but if clouds block our view, they are only filtering the sun’s light temporarily. If darkness has fallen, we know that the sun is still shining at this very moment somewhere not too far away, and it’s only a matter of time before it will shine on us again.
When we remember that the sun is still shining, we know that things are still in motion in the universe. Even if life feels like it is at a standstill, sometimes all we need to do is have faith and wait for the time when God’s perfect plan is in place. Or we can we can choose to follow the cues of the sun and continue doing our work and shining our light, even when we can’t yet see results. In doing so we exercise our patience, making sure we are prepared when opportunity knocks and all other elements of God’s plan are in their right and perfect places.
The sun also reminds us that our own shining truth is never extinguished. Our light shines within us at all times, no matter what else occurs around us. Though the sun gives us daily proof of its existence, sometimes our belief in our own light requires more time. If we think back, however, we can find moments when it showed itself and trust that we will see it again. Like the sun, our light is the energy that connects us to the movements of the universe and the cycles of life that God created and is present at all times, whether we feel its glow or not
Everyday Miracles
Everyday Miracles:
by Marjorie Kimbrough
Jesus’ healing touch cures man with AIDS
The Rev. Allen Tanner frequently works with the chaplain at the Department of Corrections and was asked to visit with an AIDS patient who had been told he had about three weeks to live. Finding the patient in a semi-comatose state, Tanner decided to spend his time telling the young man a biblical story of healing. The story he chose was that of the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34).
Tanner told how the woman was considered unclean because of her bleeding, but how she persevered to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment believing that the act of touching would heal her. He emphasized the fact that the woman had to push and even crawl through the crowd just to get close enough to touch Jesus’ hem. In a like manner, Tanner explained to the young man that he would have to make his journey toward wholeness alone. He would have to push through his troubled mind and find his way to the healing touch that only Jesus could provide.
Obviously, the young man accepted Tanner’s challenge, for within 24 hours he was sitting up and feeling better, and it was confirmed to him that one third of the AIDS virus had vanished from his body. With this news, Tanner knew that the virus eventually would all vanish, for it was his firm belief that God never leaves a job unfinished. Sure enough, over the next two days the final two-thirds of the virus vanished.
The young man returned to prison witnessing to his healing through visualizing touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. He is a living testimony to the miracle power of the living Lord. Miracles happen everyday. Expect yours!
God, make me a witness to your miracle power. Amen.
Marjorie Kimbrough is an award-winning author and lecturer. E-mail mlkimbrough@aol.com.
Posted by Chaplain Allen Tanner at 8:40 AM
by Marjorie Kimbrough
Jesus’ healing touch cures man with AIDS
The Rev. Allen Tanner frequently works with the chaplain at the Department of Corrections and was asked to visit with an AIDS patient who had been told he had about three weeks to live. Finding the patient in a semi-comatose state, Tanner decided to spend his time telling the young man a biblical story of healing. The story he chose was that of the woman with the issue of blood (Mark 5:25-34).
Tanner told how the woman was considered unclean because of her bleeding, but how she persevered to touch the hem of Jesus’ garment believing that the act of touching would heal her. He emphasized the fact that the woman had to push and even crawl through the crowd just to get close enough to touch Jesus’ hem. In a like manner, Tanner explained to the young man that he would have to make his journey toward wholeness alone. He would have to push through his troubled mind and find his way to the healing touch that only Jesus could provide.
Obviously, the young man accepted Tanner’s challenge, for within 24 hours he was sitting up and feeling better, and it was confirmed to him that one third of the AIDS virus had vanished from his body. With this news, Tanner knew that the virus eventually would all vanish, for it was his firm belief that God never leaves a job unfinished. Sure enough, over the next two days the final two-thirds of the virus vanished.
The young man returned to prison witnessing to his healing through visualizing touching the hem of Jesus’ garment. He is a living testimony to the miracle power of the living Lord. Miracles happen everyday. Expect yours!
God, make me a witness to your miracle power. Amen.
Marjorie Kimbrough is an award-winning author and lecturer. E-mail mlkimbrough@aol.com.
Posted by Chaplain Allen Tanner at 8:40 AM
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)