I responded to a blog post today about "bible thumping", and it is not the first time I have been confronted about quoting scripture. Like I said in my posting, I only quote what speaks truth to me.
I often quote, "A closed mouth don't get fed", I have no clue who first coined the phrase, but it speaks truth to me. I have told my husband numerous times, "if I don't know what I am doing that bothers you," 1. does that make you right and me wrong? me right and you wrong? both of us right? or wrong? 2. how do you expect me to do something different if I am not sure what "it" is, 3. (another quote) if you always do what you've always done, you will always get what you've always got. I had to open my mouth and say something to, at the very least, open up the lines of communication.
I can quote another one...it deals with worry origionally, but it can be USED in any number of contexts...being in a rocking chair, it gives you something to do, but it doesn't get you anywhere. Scripture referrencing can do the same. If you quote anything, the bible, Qu'ran, Budda, who/what;ever, if you don't stand on that and do something with it, what good is it?
I quote my bible, because it speaks truth to me. I quote complete strangers, when they speak truth to me. I look at nature, faces, and the world as a whole, from an artists perspective. I cannot draw or paint anything that no one else has ever seen before, because I cannot trust that you can comprehend it, having never before seen it. Has any of us seen heaven on earth? Perhaps not, but can you honestly say, you have/have not seen glimpses of what you percieve to recognize as heaven on earth, based on your personal definition of what heaven is?
The bible says, that of the books that can be written, there is no end. True, or false? Again, true or false? Because, there are many books out there, that's true. Many speak of the same things from different perspectives on the same subject. Why do cops question any and all witnesses? Because some MAY be false, and it is in the "multitude of counselors" that we find the TRUTH. Is it true, false, or just an oppinion?
The bible says, we were formed from the dust of the earth, right? MUD AND DUM ARE THE SAME THING FROM DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVES. It is all in how we percieve. Light is good, God said so, but what if you have a migraine? The perspective and spectrum of the light has now changed. What does that do to your understanding of what you know? Anything?
TRUTH is in perception, where you are, when you are, how you are, in any given situation. TRUTH in a relationship is not gazing lovingly into one anothers eyes, it is in gazing together in the same direction.
I look at the billions of faces upon this planet, and I see that we are so very similar, yet so very unique and different. Not all of us have eyes, some do though they don't work. Some are colorblind (litterally), others figuratively. Seeing in color, I find it difficult, yet artistically not impossible, to understand what it is like not to see the color RED, to see everything in monochromatic BLUE.
In closing, I ask you....
If a child can only see in black and white (like old movies), but you yourself see in color, can that child know what red, blue, yellow, etc. is? Can they distinguish the many shades of grey, to interpret what we say is red, blue, yellow, etc. A stop sign is always red. A fire truck is sometimes red, but not always. A fire can be red, blue, or not seen at all, entirely out of our range of sight, but it still exists, and burns. How do I know that what I see and hear, is what you see and hear, unless we speak, and continue to speak until we are clearlly understood, whatever combination of words we know to use? How do I learn to communicate with someone who does not speak my native language? English? I use my body and all it's faculties to learn what is being transmitted. Dirt in my hand, shows the other, "&^%(&*%", and I hear how they say it. I can then communicate that word so they can understand me, they hear me say, "dirt" just the way it sounds, and I can understand them.
My dog does not say to me, "hey, I need to go outside to do my business". It communicates through it's actions, "pay attention, I need your help to do something." I must be open minded enough to look, see, hear with my ears, and then do something about it, or not to, and suffer the consequences.
Last quote and I wil leave...
We have 2 eyes to see with, 2 ears to hear with, and only 1 mouth to speak with. Therefore, we should see and hear twice as much and twice as well as we should speak. However, speak, that I may hear with my ears, and if I cannot hear, I may see and read your lips, that I may know what you have to say. I thank my God that I have 2 hands, to type my words, where my mouth is of no use. My brain is where my words reside, and it is with my heart that my mind speaks. My feet, too, can take these and other words out of ciberspace, into the real world, my home, neighborhood and community, to make changes.
For now we see through a glass darkly, but when that which is perfect has come, then we will be known as we are known. All things will be in the light, and we will be enlightened, to the real truth.
Posted By: Lesley Knight
Thursday, October 2nd 2008 at 12:04PM
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