Attitude Is What? Everythng?

The definition of attitude in The New Oxford American is: - a settled way of thinking or feeling about someone or something, typically one that is reflected in a person's behavior. Another entry reads - the orientation of an aircraft relative to the direction of travel; and another reads - a position of the body proper to or implying an action or mental state.

We borrowed the idea from the French and Italian languages where it meant 'fitness or posture'. These languages are Latin based which brings us to the word aptus meaning 'fit'.

Posturing is behaving in such a way that is intended to impress or mislead.  Or you could say , being deceptive in ones attitude.

Our American understanding of attitude is the anger, frustration, facial expression, and body language that is manifested to a person or because of a circumstance. But attitude goes deeper than this. Our attitude is our positioning, our posturing, our fitting ourselves to life and its circumstances, philosophies and people.

How do you position yourself to your: spouse, authorities, children, parents, friends, enemies, fellowman, problems, employment, responsibilities, blessings. Are you taking an adversarial stance? Are you in a position to exit your relationships, responsibilities or your faith? Are you a friend or a servant? Are you a critic or do you bring healing? Are you an inspiration (not the singers)? are you an over comer or an under achiever? Step back from the person or situation in question and ask; in relation to this what position am I in - what am I ready to do. That is your attitude and it bleeds over into your actions. It also affects how others perceive you.

Rather than saying, that person has a bad attitude; we might just as well say, that person hasn't positioned himself very well to this situation or in respect to that person. I think attitude has more to do with preparation than with circumstance. How do you prepare for work? Before you meet your spouse, do you condition your thinking in order to meet him/her properly? When you enter the life of your children are you prepared?  Have you sat down and considered the troubles that are typical to your age, gender, race, occupation and faith to determine how you will act when those situations arise? What you are doing here is creating an attitude or positioning yourself  for future events so you can be prepared.

How can we do this?

The raw meaning of the word orient is the Latin 'oriri' or to rise. This refers to the sun rising in the East. The word orientation means to face east. We use this word to describe our position relative to someone or some object. When we go to an orientation we hear information that allows us to face the same direction as the people in charge.

But why the East?

The sun rises in the East. The wise men saw The Star in the East which led them to Christ. The Gospel traveled from the East. And when Christ comes back to set up his kingdom he will split the eastern sky with a blinding light. Does this give you an idea of the person or object we could use to position ourselves? Our attitude can be set in relativity to Christ and His words.

If you are positioned toward Christ, how would that effect your marriage, children, friendships, actions, occupation or anything that makes up your life? How are you positioned relative to Christ and His words?This is a question that I have to ask myself often. I am constantly having to adjust my attitude just like the pilot in his plane.

It was nice chatting with you,
John

Gratitude V/S Complaint

I was reading in Ezra 7:27,28 and I asked myself how anyone could bless God. Or was Ezra saying that God was already blessed? My pastor taught that the word blessed means happiness all the way to your inner core. If he wasn't lying to me, I have to think that our God is a happy one.

Look at what God did in this situation. He put in the heart of the king to send people back to Jerusalem for the remodeling of the worship center. God must have been having a good day. He extended mercy to Ezra in the presence of the king, his cabinet, the house of reps and the senate. God must have been having a good day. God strengthened Ezra by putting His hand upon him which empowered Ezra to do the job God had for him to do. God must have been having a good day.

Oh! Wait a minute. Ezra is a captive in Babylon (Iraq), so maybe God isn't having such a good day after all. As a matter of a fact the Hebrews had been there for right at seventy years. God must have had a lot of bad days.

Hmm.  Let's see.

I woke up this morning. God must have been having a good day. When I opened my eyes, I could still see. God must have been having a good day. I was able to dress myself. God must have been having a good day. I heard the voices of my family. God must have been having a good day. My car started and took me all the way to work. I have a job. My wife has been with me for almost fifteen years. I have healthy sons. My parents love me. I have smart, sharp siblings. When you get on a roll like this it's hard to stop. God must be very happy to be treating me this way.

On the other hand, I have a pain in my lower back that I live with. I woke up this morning with a very sore throat. I have a pain in the muscles of my neck that is giving me a throbbing headache right now. Money is tight. the tires on my car are almost bald and I have a huge dent in the side of both vehicles (not my fault). My wife just recently went through back surgery and is numb on one side. God must be having an awful day. What's He got against me? You know, you can get on a roll going this direction as well.  

I realize there are people who have very troubled lives who may be reading this and saying to themselves - he doesn't know the first thing about what I'm going through. And you are absolutely right. The rest of us should use the trials of these people as reminders to be grateful to God. One of the best ways to stay grateful is to find others that suffer more than you (they are everywhere). When I see a wheelchair I thank God I can walk. When I see a blind person I thank God I can see. When I see a deaf person I thank God I can hear.When I hear of a troubled marriage I thank God for my wife. When I see afflicted children I thank God mine are healthy.

I'm sure Ezra had a few things he didn't appreciate about his circumstances, and I'm sure Ezra wasn't a perfect human being; but we could learn a lesson from the way he handled his words that day.

It was nice chatting with you,
John

Fathers and Sons

My lovely wife gave me two sons. Like all of us they had to learn to roll over. It wasn't long before they were pushing themselves up on their knees. I knew they would soon be using the furniture to get up on their feet, and that was where the fun and pain started for them. When they would let loose of the one thing that supported them, they would take a clumsy step or two and then fall down. My reaction was always a grimace, an ooh and an ouch-that had to hurt; but I knew they were going to fall. I also knew that they were going to fall many more times.

I never ran over to them, grabbed them up, shook them, smacked them around and said "What's wrong with you? Don't you know that you're not supposed to fall down?" No! I scooped them up and held them close telling them it was going to be OK. Then I stood them back up for another try knowing that they were going to fall again.

Soon after they learned to walk, they wanted to run and climb. One day my oldest came home with a broken arm (monkey bars). Then it was bikes and football, so along came bruises, scrapes and another broken arm. As they learned to do one thing without much trouble, they were soon off to another that needed more skill and added more pain and struggle to their lives.

God is called our Father. Our relationship to him in this life is likened to a walk. Our Father knows we are going to fall and when we do is ready to help us back up to try again. He doesn't take away the pain of the fall nor does he take away the reward for the effort. The key is to keep our spirit right with Him and continue to learn.

Adultery. Fornication. Lying. Stealing. Cheating. Laziness. Hatred. You plug in the failure. God doesn't take away the pain of the fall; He comes to us and says, "Ouch-that had to hurt. Let me help you up and let's try that again".

As much as I wanted to take away the pain for my boys, I couldn't. All I can hope for is that they will let me help them and that they will learn from the falls they take. Soon they will want a car, a girl, a job, a college, a career, a wife and children of their own. I hope I have successfully introduced them to a Father that is there for them in all these endeavors.

This is my introductory post and I wanted it to be a sample of what to expect on this sight. So if you enjoyed this or where helped at all, I invite you to return and read at your leisure.

It was nice chatting with you,
John