"Give ear to my words, O LORD, consider my meditation."
(Psalms 5:1)
The Castle of Meditation!
A Spirit Trip
I'm standing at the large gate of a giant castle. The wooden doors tower high above-they must be 20 feet high. There is a corded bell. I pull on it. It clangs, and I wait.
Welcome to the Castle of Meditation. It has high, thick walls that block out outside noise and distraction and allow you to quietly reflect, connect with Me, and find answers when you need them. It is here for you whenever you feel like entering into My presence. Feel free to roam the long, quiet halls, explore the rooms, and find secret doorways and passages where hidden treasures lie.
Let Me introduce you to your guide. I've appointed him keeper of the castle.
An older man with white hair appears in a small sliding window opening in one of the giant doors. Only his face is visible through the opening, but he smiles and seems friendly. I wonder how he's going to get the gate open. I'm sure he's not weak, since he's a spirit, but still my human perception wonders if he's not too weak to open those giant doors.
He slides the window shut, and I hear a clanging of locks on the other side and creaking wood. Then a smaller door-within-a-door-which wasn't visible before-opens on the left side of the giant gate. It's just large enough for a person to get through crouched over. I bend down and go through. It's a tight squeeze and a bit uncomfortable, but then I'm through and within the castle walls.
My guide says the gates to the Castle of Meditation at first seem large and impenetrable. Sometimes you might not feel like taking the time to ring the bell to get through. The small opening represents how difficult it is to get started with your time with the Lord. The Enemy likes to make it seem very hard. You have to crouch down, humble yourself, and go through a tight space. But then once you're through, a victory is won-you've entered the Lord's presence. Welcome to the Castle of Meditation. Let me show you around.
We walk through a beautiful courtyard. The ground is paved with large flat pieces of beige sandstone, seamlessly fitting together. I wonder aloud how so many pieces of various shapes and sizes could fit so well together, so that not even a stray weed can grow between two stones.
(My guide: ) It was our job to ask Him where each one went and put the puzzle together. Of course‚ it wasn't a seamless fit at first. There was some adjusting‚ a bit of chiseling in many cases. But with time and persistence, we've gotten a perfect fit.
We walk through the inside doors to enter the castle and shut them behind us, and I'm immediately struck by one thing-the quiet. There is a wonderful peace and silence in the halls. My guide offers to take me and the other visitors first to the dining room, where there are refreshments waiting. The tables are laid with an assortment of dried and fresh fruits and nuts, and we sit down to enjoy them.
(My guide: ) First things first. You can't very well enjoy the Castle of Meditation on an empty stomach. Usually it's best to get physically comfortable to an extent in order to have quality time with Him. Of course, don't get too comfortable...
Our guide notices some of us sitting in our plush, velvet-backed chairs resting our heads back and beginning to get sleepy. He quickly suggests that we all begin our tour of the castle.
The first stop is the giant throne room. It has long panels of polished wood lining the floor. On the walls are beautiful works of tapestry and art. The ceiling is high, and as I look up, I notice that the ceiling is made of rows of vaulted brick domes that reach up even higher, and all this with only a few beams of support. I wonder what the framework is behind the bricks that hold it all up, and how it was constructed in the first place.
Our guide explains to us that each brick first had to be cut into the right shape for them to fit properly, and then, instead of laying the bricks on the ceiling from the inside of the castle‚ the bricks were laid from the outside on top of a support frame which stood inside the castle. The bricks were laid tightly and the pressure of each one against the other helped give each dome its support. Then, once all the domes were complete and reinforcements were in the crucial places‚ the supports were removed, and the beautiful ceiling stood as it does now.
It seems a little backwards to me-the way the ceiling domes were built-but then I remember that sometimes the most beautiful of God's creations are formed in unusual ways. Take a look at a butterfly and its cocoon, a rainbow breaking out after rain, a diamond born amidst the crushing press of stone, and even a loving and humble soul born through brokenness, adversity, and trial.
All throughout the throne room are little nooks and crannies, little places of refuge and retreat-a seat built into a sunny windowsill, a corner near the fireplace, a couch fitted into a niche in the wall. These are little spots of meditation where we can commune with the Lord. We each find the spot that appeals to us most, and take a minute to praise and spend time with the Lord.
Our guide takes us down the hall to visit the other rooms. There are many rooms, each one having its own appeal. Some are simple and sparsely furnished, but comfortable; others are plush and luxuriously outfitted. Some have large windows that were designed to spread light throughout the room; others are darker, and lit only with candlelight. In each place there are people having quiet time with Jesus in their hearts, resting and being strengthened by their communion with Him.
Next we are led to a large dressing room area. There are maids and menservants waiting to help us. We each stand behind a little cordoned-off partition that reaches to our necks, and our helpers open trunks and pull out new clothes for us to wear.
I'm not sure I want to change my clothes. And when I look at the others over the tops of the partitions, I see some of them aren't either. But when I see that the new clothes seem so clean and much more comfortable‚ I yield‚ and my old dirty clothes just fall off. I raise my hands and the new clothes are slipped over my head and fall into place and fit me perfectly. I'm wearing a long dress, with a full skirt with a sash that ties at the waist in the back. It's different than what I was wearing before-it's plainer and simpler-but it's much nicer and more comfortable.
To enter into My presence you have to take off the garments of worldliness and pride and put on the garments of humility. This isn't a physical change of clothing, of course; it's a spiritual mindset you have to take on. Praise is the best way to humble yourself in order to get closer to Me. Lift up your hands together now and let Me hear your praises. As you do, I will slip the garments of humility over your heads, and your old garments of pride will come off and be whisked away.
(Our guide:) Now you're ready to explore this castle for yourself! There's so much to be discovered-secret doors, peepholes and hidden rooms, rooms with spectacular views, but best of all, there is a particular place somewhere in this castle that is especially designed to be your spot to meditate and take time with the Lord. It's perfectly made just for you, and it can be a treasure hunt to find it.
We all run off to find our meditation spots, and we have such fun walking through the huge castle and discovering new things. There are countless rooms-sitting areas, bedrooms, libraries, porches, and little cubbyholes everywhere.
I find my meditation spot quickly, and there's no doubt in my mind it was created especially for me. It's up a spiral staircase leading to a tower room. There are windows on all sides and I can see beautiful countryside far out in all directions. There is a rocking chair with a matching rocking ottoman, and it's so comfortable. I spend most of the day there reading, meditating, and talking with the Lord, all the while enjoying His creation.
I can help each of you to find special places where you can commune with Me, if you ask Me to show you. Often‚ though, the locations aren't so special or convenient, and your only option will be your bedroom or a quiet spot you can find. In those cases, don't worry or feel it's not special. I love to spend time with you any time, any place. If you want, ask Me to transport you in spirit to your special spot in the Castle of Meditation, and I will make your time of communion with Me even more restful, fulfilling, and strengthening.
It's nearing the time to leave, and our guide, has come to each of us in our respective spots and is offering us a refreshing snack-some crackers with cheese. As I'm eating some, he tells me to come downstairs-that he has something special to show us before we have to leave.
We're all following our guide down some candlelit stairs into the lower part of the castle. He tells us that many treasures are kept down here. Some would be considered earthly treasures, and some are just treasures to those who would find special value in certain objects. Everything, however-he relates-is a unique and rare item.
We're standing in a wine cellar now. It's cooler down here, and a little damp, but we don't feel cold. The new clothes that we have on seem to heat us when we're cold, or cool us when we're feeling hot.
Our guide stops in a corner of the cellar, and pulls a bottle of wine out a little, and turns another bottle ninety degrees clockwise. I watch him, wondering what he's doing, and then realize he's opening a series of hidden latches that open a secret door. Finally, he scoots a crate of bottles over a few inches‚ and suddenly there's a springing sound, and what looked like a wall lined with old crates begins to turn on hidden hinges and opens just wide enough for a person to get through. Through the opening I see stone steps that lead to a large chamber below.
In this chamber are countless chests of many varieties. Some are rustic and wooden, others are made of metal, wicker, or covered in beautiful fabric. Some are decorated with bronze rings and latches, and others are covered in jewels, intricate embroidery, or carvings. No two are the same, and each one is special in some way. They're all beautiful.
We're each drawn to our own chest, somehow knowing which one was meant for us. My chest has a rounded top, which is covered with a deep red velvet fabric, embroidered along the edge with golden silk thread. Our guide tells us to reach into our pockets-in which has been placed the key of faith. We have to have faith to insert and turn the key and open the lock to receive this gift that Jesus is giving us.
I reach into my pocket and pull out a small, simple key and put it into the lock. It turns easily, and I open the lid and look inside. Amidst soft folds of cream-colored satin lie a few simple objects. I see a silver slinky, a small blue flashlight, and a small, delicate ivy plant in a pot. Everyone has different things in their chests, but they are gifts to us-things that will help us during the times we spend with Jesus.
(Our guide:) These are gifts for your use that will help you in your time of communion with the Lord. These objects are symbols, with each representing something you can focus your mind's eye on when you need help in your Word, praise‚ prayer, or any other times you spend with the Lord. Remember them, and picture them in your mind, and they will help you to keep your focus during these times.
As I pick up the objects and examine them, Jesus tells me what each object represents. As I play with the slinky in my hand, He tells me that it's to remind me of my connection with Him. I can be close or stretch way far away, but no matter what, I'll still be His. When I let the slinky go back and forth between my hands, I notice that when the slinky stays in a tight coil, it moves quickly and easily, but when I let it get stretched out, it becomes more difficult to control and moves much more slowly. This means that if I stay close to Jesus all the time‚ it'll be easier and quicker to do His will, and when I stray away, it becomes harder to operate.
The blue flashlight represents the storing of Word in my heart. It reminds me that even when things get dark, I'll have my own light to keep things bright‚ and I'll be able to see my way through troubled times. If I'm faithful to hide the Word in my heart I'll keep those batteries charged, and my flashlight will never go out.
The ivy plant represents my gift of prophecy. Jesus tells me that it takes faithful care, watering, fertilizing, and maintaining to keep my gift of prophecy growing and alive. I need to follow the steps He's given to make sure that I have a good, healthy plant. It's not just a gift that's given once and then it stays perfect forever. I have to water it through practicing, asking Him how to stretch and in what ways‚ and what Word fertilizer to give the plant so it stays green and growing.
It's time to go now. We each leave our gifts in our trunks. We can come back to the Castle of Meditation anytime we want and look inside our treasure chests. Our guide tells us that sometimes we'll find new gifts in there from Jesus, with new word pictures that will help us. We can always come back to our chests when we need a boost in our times with the Lord. He has all the secrets of success to faithful‚ quality time with Him and His Word.
I say goodbye to my guide and step back through the portal, and then I'm back in the dark room with the shining, spinning portal in front of me, watching others waiting for their turn to step through for a trip of their own. I can't wait for next time, when I can come back for more.
"My mouth shall speak of wisdom; and the meditation of my heart shall be of understanding."
(Psalms 49:3)
techdirt
Senators Want To Put People In Jail For Embedding YouTube Videos
Okay, this is just getting ridiculous. A few weeks back, we noted that Senators Amy Klobuchar, John Cornyn and Christopher Coons had proposed a new bill that was designed to make "streaming" infringing material a felony. At the time, the actual text of the bill wasn't available, but we assumed, naturally, that it would just extend "public performance" rights to section 506a of the Copyright Act. - - Supporters of this bill claim that all it's really doing is harmonizing US copyright law's civil and criminal sections. After all, the rights afforded under copyright law in civil cases cover a list of rights: reproduce, distribute, prepare derivative works or perform the work. The rules for criminal infringement only cover reproducing and distributing -- but not performing. So, supporters claim, all this does is "harmonize" copyright law and bring the criminal side into line with the civil side by adding "performance rights" to the list of things. - - If only it were that simple. But, of course, it's not. First of all, despite claims to the contrary, there's a damn good reason why Congress did not include performance rights as a criminal/felony issue: because who would have thought that it would be a criminal act to perform a work without permission? It could be infringing, but that can be covered by a fine. When we suddenly criminalize a performance, that raises all sorts of questionable issues. - - Furthermore, as we suspected, in the full text of the bill, "performance" is not clearly defined. This is the really troubling part. Everyone keeps insisting that this is targeted towards "streaming" websites, but is streaming a "performance"? If so, how does embedding play into this? Is the site that hosts the content guilty of performing? What about the site that merely linked to and/or embedded the video (linking and embedding are technically effectively the same thing). Without clear definitions, we run into problems pretty quickly. - - And it gets worse. Because rather than just (pointlessly) adding "performance" to the list, the bill tries to also define what constitutes a potential felony crime in these circumstances:
the offense consists of 10 or more public performances by electronic means, during any 180-day period, of 1 or more copyrighted works
So yeah. If you embed a YouTube video that turns out to be infringing, and more than 10 people view it because of your link... you could be facing five years in jail. This is, of course, ridiculous, and suggests (yet again) politicians who are regulating a technology they simply do not understand. Should it really be a criminal act to embed a YouTube video, even if you don't know it was infringing...? This could create a massive chilling effect to the very useful service YouTube provides in letting people embed videos.
***
The Yomiuri Shimbun
'Melt-through' at Fukushima? / Govt report to IAEA suggests situation worse than meltdown
Nuclear fuel in three reactors at the Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant has possibly melted through pressure vessels and accumulated at the bottom of outer containment vessels, according to a government report obtained Tuesday by The Yomiuri Shimbun.
A "melt-through"--when melted nuclear fuel leaks from the bottom of damaged reactor pressure vessels into containment vessels--is far worse than a core meltdown and is the worst possibility in a nuclear accident.
The possibility of the situation at the plant's Nos. 1 to 3 reactors was raised in a report that is to be submitted to the International Atomic Energy Agency.
If the report is released as is, it would be the first official recognition that a melt-through has occurred.
It was revealed earlier that sections of the bottom of the pressure vessels where control rods go through have been damaged. Highly radioactive water from inside the pressure vessels was confirmed to have leaked out of the containment vessels, even outside the buildings that house the reactors.
The report also acknowledges problems with the vertical administrative structure concerning nuclear safety regulations. As a result, the report says, who was responsible for keeping people safe in the event of a nuclear accident was not clear.
The report proposes separating the Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency from the Economy, Trade and Industry Ministry and making it an independent organization. The report also proposes drastic reform of the nation's nuclear administration, including the Nuclear Safety Commission.
Joplin Missouri
NaturalNews
FDA finally admits chicken meat contains cancer-causing arsenic.
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
Editor of NaturalNews.com (See all articles...)
Love it30Funny6OMG67Must read73Outrageous102
(NaturalNews) After years of sweeping the issue under the rug and hoping no one would notice, the FDA has now finally admitted that chicken meat sold in the USA contains arsenic, a cancer-causing toxic chemical that's fatal in high doses. But the real story is where this arsenic comes from: It's added to the chicken feed on purpose!
Even worse, the FDA says its own research shows that the arsenic added to the chicken feed ends up in the chicken meat where it is consumed by humans. So for the last sixty years, American consumers who eat conventional chicken have been swallowing arsenic, a known cancer-causing chemical. (http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/loc...)
Until this new study, both the poultry industry and the FDA denied that arsenic fed to chickens ended up in their meat. The fairytale excuse story we've all been fed for sixty years is that "the arsenic is excreted in the chicken feces." There's no scientific basis for making such a claim... it's just what the poultry industry wanted everybody to believe.
But now the evidence is so undeniable that the manufacturer of the chicken feed product known as Roxarsone has decided to pull the product off the shelves (http://www.grist.org/food-safety/20...). And what's the name of this manufacturer that has been putting arsenic in the chicken feed for all these years? Pfizer, of course -- the very same company that makes vaccines containing chemical adjuvants that are injected into children.
Technically, the company making the Roxarsone chicken feed is a subsidiary of Pfizer, called Alpharma LLC. Even though Alpharma now has agreed to pull this toxic feed chemical off the shelves in the United States, it says it won't necessarily remove it from feed products in other countries unless it is forced by regulators to do so. As reported by AP:
"Scott Brown of Pfizer Animal Health's Veterinary Medicine Research and Development division said the company also sells the ingredient in about a dozen other countries. He said Pfizer is reaching out to regulatory authorities in those countries and will decide whether to sell it on an individual basis." (http://www.usatoday.com/money/indus...)
theage.com.au
Humans become 'pets' in rise of the machines: Apple co-founder
Tony Bartlett
June 6, 2011
Machines have won the war and the human race is destined to become little more than house pets.
That's the future according to one of the smartest geeks on the planet, Steve Wozniak, who co-founded Apple Computers and is convinced that in his lifetime he will see computer intelligence equal that of humans.
The Woz is to the technological world what The Fonz was to leather jackets and denim, and when he talks, the global industry listens.
As technology explodes, humans are not going to be needed so much in the future and will settle back into a life of ease, Mr Wozniak told a business congress on the Gold Coast on Friday.
"We're already creating the superior beings, I think we lost the battle to the machines long ago," he said.
"We're going to become the pets, the dogs of the house."
He said all of a sudden, true artificial intelligence will creep up on mankind like an accident.
"Every time we create new technology we're creating stuff to do the work we used to do and we're making ourselves less meaningful, less relevant.
"Why are we going to need ourselves so much in the future? We're just going to have the easy life," he said.
Mr Wozniak said Singularity, where a machine seems like a human being and has feelings, can think and be motivated, seemed an impossible dream to him years ago.
When he started Apple, he said, he never thought a computer would be powerful enough to hold an entire song and today we can fit 50 movies on a little disc in an iPhone.
"You don't realise it's happened until it's there and I think that awareness of machines is getting very, very close and we're getting close to where a machine will really understand you," Mr Wozniak said.
"My comment about the machines winning the war is partly a joke, but we've accidentally already put so much in place that we can't get rid of from our lives.
"Once we have machines doing our high-level thinking, there's so little need for ourselves and you can't ever undo it - you can never turn them off."
Astronomy & Space
Vast Solar Eruption Shocks NASA and Raises Doubts on Sun Theory
Jan 3, 2011
John O'Sullivan
Transition Region and Solar Explorer - Unknown
NASA reports an entire hemisphere of the sun has erupted. The U.S. space agency now admits the cataclysm puts existing solar theories in doubt.
We are forever being told that the sun is a vast gas ball of hydrogen and helium at the center of our solar system. But new evidence may help prove this isn't the case after all, according to solar experts who say the sun has an iron core.
A stunned NASA admits, "Astronomers knew they had witnessed something big. It was so big, it may have shattered old ideas about solar activity."
The vast global solar eruption covers ~10^9 km of the solar photosphere. The US space agency reports, "The whole solar hemisphere erupted simultaneously in an avalanche effect that had been triggered in the tiny solar core and propagated outwards" (NASA: Dec 13, 2010).
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Scientists have confirmed that the explosion that occurred on August 1, 2010 is unprecedented in recorded history and caused filaments of magnetism to snap and explode creating enormous shock waves that raced across the stellar surface. This caused billion-ton clouds of hot gas to billow out into space.
This unprecedented event is claimed to give support to an alternative theory long held by Professor Oliver K. Manuel, a Postdoctoral Fellow of the University of California, Berkeley.
Event believed to be a Self Organized Criticality
In a never-seen-before occurrence, an entire hemisphere of the sun erupted simultaneously in an avalanche effect triggered from inside the compact solar core and propagated outwards; scientists are describing the astonishing happening as like the sand pile effect in Self Organised Criticality.
Self Organized Criticality (SOC) occurs in physics when a critical point is reached in a dynamic system in flux whereby the system radically alters its behavior or structure, for example, from being a solid to acting like a liquid.
SOC is one of a number of important discoveries made in statistical physics and related fields over the latter half of the 20th century, discoveries which relate particularly to the study of complexity in nature. Such new evidence, say Manuel, must now force solar scientists to think again.
Iron core sun theorists believe it's possible that our sun may now, in fact, be more like an atom rather than a huge gas ball. With the atom, electrons occupy 99% of the volume and have less than 1% of the mass. In the Sun, the atmosphere and planets occupy 99% of the volume and may also have less than 1% of the mass.
Evidence Suggests Solar Theories May Need to be Re-written
Controversy about our understanding of the sun has been fomenting for years. In 1980, solar science researcher, Ralph E. Juergens lamented, "The modern astrophysical concept that ascribes the sun's energy to thermonuclear reactions deep in the solar interior is contradicted by nearly every observable aspect of the sun."
The astrophysics establishment has long shunned the idea of the sun having any such iron core. But this momentous event is consistent with the theory that there is a tiny dense neutron core the size of a city powered by neutron repulsion. Professor Manuel believes there is a super-conducting iron-rich shell the size of a moon or small planet surrounding the neutron core.
Backing the theory is astrophysicist Carl A. Rouse, who calculated a tiny iron-rich solar core from helioseismology data, but he has also been ignored up until now.
Manuel's Theory Made more Credible by Solar Eruption
Manuel of the University of Missouri-Rolla claims the event has 'Implications for Solar Eruptions and Climate'as documented in his seminal paper on the subject.
NASA's discovery of global solar eruptions is set to encourage a fresh look by scientists at Manuel's ideas that are further detailed in the Journal of Fusion Energy (2002).
The delighted University of Missouri-Rolla and ex-NASA man says that the event, contrary to modern theory, is new evidence for the Sun's tiny (~10 km), dense neutron core being powered by neutron repulsion, and/or the super-conducting iron-rich shell (~10^3 km) surrounding the neutron core.
"The August 1st event really opened our eyes," says Karel Schrijver of Lockheed Martin's Solar and Astrophysics Lab in Palo Alto, CA. "We see that solar storms can be global events, playing out on scales we scarcely imagined before."
The four key points made by the iron core theorists are:
We do not "see" the Sun;
We see waste products emitting light when they reach the top of the Sun's atmosphere (photosphere);
The "smoke" we see is (H and He) from a neutron star;
The global eruption was triggered by the tiny, energetic, dense neutron-rich core of the Sun or by the iron-rich mantle that surrounds it.
Time for 'Truthing' Says Solar Professor
This monumental solar eruption may finally challenge the accepted theories about how the key driver of Earth's climate actually works. Manuel sagely observes, "Although NASA seems to be catching up, after decades of 'group-think' it will be very difficult for NASA scientists to comprehend the Sun."
Indeed, this latest evidence is unsettling not just for accepted ideas about how our Sun works but it also impacts assumptions of how the Sun effects Earth's climate. Oliver insists " Science is a continuous process of 'truthing' without ever claiming that you have the 'whole truth.'"
(Photos from recent volcanic eruption in Chile.)
***
MailOnline
Armchair astronaut discovers Mars 'space station' using Google earth
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER
5th June 2011
We have all heard of little green men from Mars.
But now an American 'armchair astronaut' claims to have discovered a mysterious structure on the surface of the red planet - by looking on Google earth.
David Martines, whose YouTube video of the 'station' has racked up over 200,000 hits so far, claims to have randomly uncovered the picture while scanning the surface of the planet one day.
Uncovered: David Martines believes he has found a structure on the surface of Mars - by looking at Google Mars
The white dot in the centre of the screen has set the blogosphere alight with rumours of a secret base
Describing the 'structure' as a living quarters with red and blue stripes on it, to the untrained eye it looks nothing more than a white splodge on an otherwise unblemished red landscape.
He even lists the co-ordinates 49'19.73"N 29 33'06.53"W so others can go see the anomaly for themselves.
In a pre recorded 'fly by' video of the object, Mr Martines describes what he thinks the station might be.
He said: 'This is a video of something I discovered on Google Mars quite by accident. - - 'I call it Bio-station Alpha, because I'm just assuming that something lives in it or has lived in it.
NASA and Google have both yet to respond to the 'finding', circled here
'It's very unusual in that it's quite large, it's over 700 feet long and 150 feet wide, it looks like it's a cylinder or made up of cylinders.
'It could be a power station or it could be a biological containment or it could be a glorified garage - hope it's not a weapon.
'Whoever put it up there had a purpose I'm sure. I couldn't imagine what the purpose was. I couldn't imagine why anybody would want to live on Mars.
'It could be a way station for weary space travellers. It could also belong to NASA, I don't know that they would admit that.
'I don't know if they could pull off such a project without all the people seeing all the material going up there. I sort of doubt NASA has anything to do with this.
'I don't know if NASA even knows about this.'
The 'discovery' is similar to that of the infamous 'face on Mars'
Uncovered by the Viking 1 probe in 1976, a quirk of geography threw shadows over a small hill on the Cydonia region of Mars, making the inanimate rock look like a carved face.
The picture was heralded as proof of an alien civilisation by some but was dismissed as a mere trick of the light by scientists at NASA.
MailOnline has tried to contact both NASA and Goggle for a response to the image, but neither has replied.
Christian Post
Leap and the Net Will Appear
Michael Hyatt,
I know lots of people with big dreams. But they are afraid to pursue them. They are unwilling to take the plunge, waiting until they reach the point of absolute certainty. But it never comes. And it never will.
This is the problem with commitment. You must act on limited information. Whether it is marriage, starting a new career, or leaving a good job to pursue your dream. You do your best to gather the best information you can, but then you must act. If you don't, you risk "dying with the music in you."
A few years ago, I discovered a wonderful quote by W.H. Murray, a Scottish mountain climber and writer. He says,
Until one is committed, there is hesitancy, the chance to draw back, always ineffectiveness. Concerning all acts of initiative and creativity there is one elementary truth, the ignorance of which kills countless ideas and splendid plans: That the moment one definitely commits oneself, then providence moves too.
All sorts of things occur to help one that would never otherwise have occurred. A whole stream of events issues from the decision, raising in one's favor all manner of unforeseen incidents, meetings and material assistance, which no man could have dreamt would have come his way. I have learned a deep respect for one of Goethe's couplets:
'Whatever you can do, or dream you can, begin it; boldness has genius, power, and magic in it.'"
Or to simplify it even further, American naturalist John Burroughs put it this way, "Leap and the net will appear."
I don't think this concept encourages recklessness. But it does make the important point that you must eventually act, believing that the resources you need will show up when you need them. This is simply faith in its purest form.
Until next week...
Almondtree Productions
Be sure to read Earthshaker so that you can be aware of coming events. "Take heed to yourselves, lest ... that day come upon you unawares." (Luke 21:34) You can also go to the Studies section on this web site to read the studies from the prophetic books of Daniel, Ezekiel, Zechariah, Matthew, Revelation, and more.
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