Most of you who have been reading my blogs know I love words. They fascinate me–their origins, the ways the letters in words can be switched around to a new meaning. In fact, my latest fictional series, The Wordplay Mysteries, is about words leading to clues in crimes. So, while playing a game of Words with Friends, I noticed the letters in my hand- p-o-e-n.
My brain kicked into gear and God started me thinking…
If you spell OPEN it emits a certain positivity. In fact, the letter “O” is a circle and evokes a sense of unity, inclusiveness, and wholeness. Positive people are open to new ideas. We are glad when we see a store is open. When our eyes are wide open we see things clearer.
God’s hands are always open to hold us and His ears open to hear our prayers.
Start the word with N and you suddenly have a totally different attitude. Nope.
Door closed. Ideas shut away. God has turned His back. Or we’ve turned our back on Him, and others.
So what is “N” and why is it so important where we place it?
Maybe it stands for needs. When we put our needs first, we limit the possibilities to being “all about us.” But when we put our needs last, we open ourselves (notice how I did that) to a servitude attitude. God and others become more important.
Now, don’t think I am advocating that you neglect yourself. Even flight attendants tell parents to put on their oxygen masks first then their childrens’. But Christ said the first commandment was to Love God, then love your neighbor as yourself, not love yourself then your neighbor and God.
When you love God first, then you see yourself as His beloved and that alters your attitude. You not only count your blessings instead of your wants but also begin to see others as His creation whom He loves as well.
In our society, we tend to be over self-centered. It’s all about “me”. That can lead to either narcissistic behavior that wants to control everything and everyone to benefit themselves or poor self-worth that believes they have nothing to offer. Such an attitude focuses on either our abilities or inabilities, not God’s. It limits our understanding because it makes us the center of our universe.
Many therapists will tell you the best way to get out of your funk is to go do something for someone else. God created us to be in community, to assist each other. To open our hearts and minds to include others. To be His light shining openly into a dark world of nopes.
True, there may be times God wants us to switch the “n” from open to nope if we are tempted to stray down a path that is unhealthy or unholy. If that happens, it would behoove us to obey. But from my experience, it is usually when we are being a bit too self-orientated the moment we glance toward those paths. That’s when the evil one twists words and limits our vision. It is what he tried to do to Christ in the wilderness. His modus operandi has not changed.
The next time “nope” enters your brain–unless it is a warning from the Holy Spirit to halt before you have dipped into temptation–pray for God to switch the “n” and open your heart and mind to something new, to see God and your world in a new light. It may just make your day better, and someone else’s. too.
Are you open to doing that?
One letter can make a huge difference. Mean versus moan. Bad vs bed. Dog vs. dig.
others, and loving others takes our minds, actions, and hearts off ourselves. Then, we begin to realize we have something in common – we all need love. We need each other. We need God.
This time of year many of our minds are on gifts. What are we going to give Uncle George who is so hard to shop for? What about our grown kids? Our coworkers? Our pastors or ministry teams? How much should we spend? Should we bake cookies and treats to give neighbors or is that against the new social distancing rules?
Training pets takes patience, time, and tenacity. I’ve had my little guinea pig for about five months now. At first, he was so afraid of this giant outside of his cage but slowly he has come to trust me as the person who opens his bag of food to scoop some into his bowl or reaches in the refrigerator to bring him veggies. But, I am also the one who disturbs him when I have to clean out his cage. Sometimes I turn on this loud box with flashing pictures and weird sounds in the evening. And I use this noisy machine with a light in front of it and run it back and forth across the carpet.
The closer you get to a mirror, the sharper the image becomes. You may begin to see wrinkles, blemishes, small details previously unnoticed. But you also can see beauty, clearer characteristics, and sparkling eyes…if you look the right way.
The online dictionary defines the word plight as “a dangerous, difficult, or otherwise unfortunate situation.” Many people may think that describes 2020.
Reins are used to train a horse. With the bits in its mouth, the rains tug on him, telling him which way his master wants him to turn, stop or run. It is control by force. When someone is out of control, we say they must be reined in. I have heard that a g horse that is forcefully reined in too much develops a callus on the corners of its mouth to protect itself from the bit. After a while, it’s body puts up a natural defense against the reins.
“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’
I hung up a bird feeder to see if I could attract birds, now that I no longer have cats. I poured in easy pickings especially blended for songbirds.
Where Did You Find God Today? 