The Line of Departure

It’s been quite sometime since I’ve written on this blog. I’ve got several other blogs. Most I’m not really a regular writer on and some I haven’t even stood up yet. Recently, in a symbolic way, I crossed something called the Line of Departure with my family. In some ways regretfully and in some ways it was an unfortunate necessity.

What exactly is The Line of Departure. In the Marine Corps or in the Military no less, The Line of Departure is defined as a line in which units of military force are ordered to cross at a certain time to coordinate an attack. In short, when they cross that line there is no coming back. They’re headed into battle.

Due to a situation in my family, right or wrong, there has been a lack of trust and a lack of communication. Everyone is busy in their lives, everyone has their own issues, conflicts, emotions, scheduling conflicts, life conflicts etc. All normal family problems.

Due to these conflicts and issues, in my world, the ultimate sin happened by a loved one in my family. Put simply, they yelled at my wife and made her cry. So what does this have to do with The Line of Departure. As this war of words took place and I heard my wife cry, I was in shock and was in the planning stage to travel past “The Line of Departure”. Right or wrong, I was planning my response. Right or wrong, my written response to all of my family was absolutely brutal. My intent was to make my response unforgettable and I achieved my objective.

I read my response to my wife, hurt and in tears while snot was literally dripping out of my nose. I cried on while reading my words of pain. I only cry when someone dies and in my mind and in my heart, it had felt as if someone had died. My wife apparently had already received apologies that morning but to me, it didn’t matter. I had written my response and I was prepared to send letters to my family in the mail. My wife told me to think very carefully before sending my family anything. Since I have mailed physical letters in the past and received not even an acknowledgement, I decided to email my response to ensure everyone received it, received it immediately and received it at the same time. When I pressed SEND in email, I truly crossed The Line of Departure. There was no coming back. The fallout was nuclear. This brings me to my blog and the past entries that I have written.

86,400 Seconds in a Day

Am I actually following my own thoughts on the amount of seconds in a day and how I spend them?

WWJD- What Would Jesus Do?

Am I actually doing what Jesus would do?

PSA-Do Something Good Today!

Am I doing anything good today?

Forgiveness

Oh this is the tough one. Am I to forgive? Is forgiveness going to be that hard to give? Am I going to be able to put this behind me and forget this happened?

Plato- The 4 Virtues

Did I follow Plato’s simple 4 Virtues as I struck back at my family? Am I going to be able to follow them in the future? Am I going to be able to be an example of the 4 virtues as I navigate this situation.

Anxiety

As I deal with the anxiety of this situation, will I be able to listen to the words in Matthew? Will I be able to find other words in the Bible that will bring me peace so I can get these problems resolved?

I’m a good dude. I’ll get it figured out.

WWJD- What Would Jesus Do?

Note: I’m no angel. Not even close. I’m not perfect, not even close. This is not directed at anyone in particular. Here’s some afternoon thoughts for you and they are my own reflections.

Lots of interesting events are taking place around the globe today. I look to humanity and in my daily life for optimism. I heard an interesting experience just a few days ago about a good person. A person at a café (short condensed version) who upon request, cooked a meal for a homeless man at no charge. Such a simple act of kindness that impacted a meek, poor life, inspired and gave hope to another (the witness) and upon sharing the story gave people smiles across Facebook.

Regardless of your political, ideological, philosophical, or religious views let’s ask some questions. Think deeply about this. Let’s have a discussion. WWJD?

I don’t even care if you believe in Jesus nor am I here to announce or discuss what I believe. For those that follow Jesus what exactly would He do?

Would He come upon a cloud of vengeance and burn the world up in flames? Simple as that? Done with you people? Would He pose the white man against the black man and vice versus? Would He punish one or the other for crimes against each other or crimes against themselves regardless of how any of us see these crimes. How would He view the politics of today and ask you to vote? How would He ask you to view your neighbor, and how would He ask you to lift your neighbor up? If He said follow me and lift your neighbor up would you put down your life and actually listen? Would you recognize Jesus? How would He ask you to see the immigration crisis? How would He ask you to solve it? Didn’t Moses have an immigration crisis? How would Jesus ask you to view prostitutes or how would He have you solve the problems of human trafficking? Didn’t Jesus hang with a prostitute? Would Jesus have you throw money at all these problems or would He have you take your own precious time and resources to solve these problems. How would He have you view your own pessimisms, doubts, prejudices and biases? How would He view YOUR prejudices and biases? Would He have you running around spreading the “Good News” or would He have you running around spreading the “Bad News” that we see every single day? How would He have you react to the beggar on the street while you live in a society of consumerism? How would He react to those that subscribe to the so called “Prosperity Gospel”? Would He pose women against men in the political arena? Would He claim a complete failure of our institutions and destroy them all? Would He ask you to help fix the institutions and would you listen if He asked? Would Jesus tell you that you can best protect your faith by practicing your faith and by being an example of your faith or by truly defending your faith by the sword as if you were a crusader? How would He react to your participation in American consumerism and would you let consumerism go if He told you to follow me? Literally to follow me? Are you in fact really following him? Would He draw the battle lines of liberalism and conservatism? How would He navigate those lines? How would He view your judgements when you’re not supposed to judge? Would He see you as a hater of the people of this world of different religions, faiths, colors, creeds and so-called races? Would he see you as a lover of the “things” of this world? Would he see you as a person that loves his neighbor and someone that would do for his neighbor? Would He see you as prejudice?

Would you know Jesus if He stood in front of you? Would you deny him as He was denied in the Bible? Is your Jesus the Redeemer or the Destroyer?

What would Jesus really do? Or what would your Jesus do? Think about it.

Just some afternoon thoughts. Note, I’m no judge and no angel. Just a dude. Thinking…..

Anxiety

Sometimes simple concepts or wise sayings are also the most powerful and thought provoking. Chew on this for a while:

Mathew 6:34 says- Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble or its own.

Although this is only a part of Matthew 6 with many different versions or translations, to me this passage is beyond thought provoking. This simple passage can be leveraged so you can not only get through today, but also help you to be mindful of not letting the burdens of tomorrow overwhelm you.

For some reason this particular passage and concept spoke to me when I woke up this morning. One of the more interesting things to consider about the parables of Jesus is, they are often easier to talk or preach about than they are to implement in your daily living. That is the beauty of a parable.

Take good care…..