Truth Embraced

“The truth embraced, can never be bruised or injured, yet a delusion can be shattered by a whisper or a glance.

~David J. Lieberman PhD, author of If God were Your Therapist

 

The Golden Buddha Story

From Chicken Soup for the Soul

In 1957 a group of monks from a monastery had to relocate a clay Buddha from their temple to a new location. The monastery had to be relocated to make room for the development of a new highway through Bangkok.

When the Crane began to lift the clay Buddha, the weight of it was so heavy that it began to crack, to make things worse it also began to rain.

The head monk who was concerned about the damage to the Buddha decided to lower the statue back down to the ground and cover it with a large canvas to protect it from the rain. Later that evening the head monk went back to check on the Buddha.

He shined a flashlight under the canvas to see if the Buddha was staying dry. As the light reached where the statue had cracked he noticed a gleam shinning back. He decided to take a closer look at this gleam of light and wondered whether there was anything underneath the clay.

He got a chisel and hammer and began chipping away at the clay. As he knocked off the clay, the gleam grew brighter and bigger. After chipping away for many hours the monk finally stood before an extraordinary solid gold Buddha.

It turns out that several hundred years before, the golden Buddha had been covered in clay by monks to keep their precious treasure from being looted by the Burmese when they attacked Thailand. Although the Burmese killed the Monks in Thailand, the secret of the golden Buddha remained intact until it was rediscovered in 1957.

Like that Golden Buddha many of us have allowed the gold within us to be covered by the clay of fear and other factors that don't allow us to shine and keep the beauty within us trapped.

Somewhere along the way between the ages of two and nine, we begin to cover up our golden essence and develop low self esteem because of the things we experience and because of the things that are said to us and the negative meanings we associate with our experiences that cause us to undervalue ourselves.

Like the Monk we must grab our chisel and hammer and chip away the clay of low self esteem so that we can discover our true essence again.

“The quickest way to slay error is to proclaim the truth. The surest mode of extinguishing falsehood is to boldly advocate Scripture doctrine upon Scripture principles. Scolding and protesting will not be so effectual in resisting the progress of error as the clear proclamation of the truth in Jesus.”  C.H. Spurgeon

 

“…and you shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." John 8:32

Native Spirits Tribal Community

‎"One of the first things Seneca children
learned was that they might create their
own world, their own environment, by
visualizing actions and desires in prayer.
The Senecas believed that everything that
made life important came from within.
Prayer assisted in developing a guideline
toward discipline and self control."

~Twylah Nitcsh, SENECA

 

Tennessee Update

 

We have had snow three days in the past week. We actually had some of it stick for about 4 hours one day. The weather has been cold and windy. But the mountains we see out our front windows are beautiful and topped in white.

Jo and I attended report writing and communications training at the West Polk Fire Rescue Department. I won’t be long and we will be going on call outs.

 Jo and I went to Knoxville and met with the Canon to the Ordinary for the Diocese of East Tennessee.  We will meet with the Bishop on the 19^th.  This is the prerequisite to entering the process of being licensed by the Diocese to perform our duties as Priest and Deacon.

 Jo’s mom continues to be as non-compliant as she can be as far as using the cane or walker. I am sure that cabin fever has a little to do with her behavior. This past week she has been pushing all Jo’s (and my) buttons. She doesn’t want to be anywhere else, so I guess we will have to just work through it until spring, when she can enjoy the outdoors, sun, and the vistas. Keep us in your prayers on this issue.

 The coming week is predicted to have a few really nice days in it…nice is a relative term. We are looking forward to making more peanut and birdseed on pine cones for the birds, cutting downfall, and having a nice fire circle.

 I didn’t get this out right away and this happens to be one of not so nice days.  Thunderstorms. We did get the garden completely turned over and is ready for planting, later in the month. The morning was dry but cold, so we decided not to wait and got it done.  This afternoon we watched a DVD and chilled.

 

Blessings to you all; we love you and you are in our thoughts and prayers. Keep the texted pictures coming and the FB posts.