When Least Expected™

All For One And One For All

January 25th, 2007 at 11:57pm Manchild

Before our galvanized team of diligent and resilient people begins our character-building journey on day 25 of 2007, how many of you got up, showed up, and realized that you were the one who really needed a good long drawn out hug? I did. Did you? Since Time and Chance happens to us all, some of us needed an empathetic ear today from a compassionate peer willing to hang on to our every word. Did you? As evidenced by the sweat pouring down your faces, many of our bone tired, weary souls needed to find a set of strong shoulders to lean on today.

Here’s some good news. You came to the right place as evidenced by the smiles on every face you see. We’re one big blended, extended family. Dysfunctional? Probably. But whose family isn’t a little “off the chain” or “over the top” especially during tough times? Mine was and yours was probably just as challenging. But we survived and toughed it out because we loved each other. Besides, that’s what tough people, who choose to love each other, do during tough times.

Guess what? We love you too. So, here’s a little “link love” while I blow some magic “blog dust” your way to make you feel better today as we take one more step closer to making our biggest dreams come true so we can help each other achieve great things. Besides, my gray haired mentors and nurturing role models raised me to believe that whenever “one” of us is hurting, “all” of us are hurting. Did yours? I still feel the same way today despite what I see and hear when walking down the street to meet and greet passers by with a smile, a handshake, or a hug. My family raised me to care about my neighbors and share their “southern hospitality” whenever and wherever I could.

Isn’t it nice to know that none of our emotionally connected souls are so busy that we don’t have time to care about you or take as long as needed to meet you where you are right now? If necessary, we will meet you at the place of your biggest defeat to allow you the personal space your critically ill soul needs to completely heal. Don’t be afraid to tell us where and when we need to go to help you conquer your biggest fear. We have all suffered at least one great fall. I’ve had many.

If time permits, click on the About page at the top of my Home page to see why I decided to publish WHEN LEAST EXPECTED™, “Inspiration To Brighten Dark Days And Lonely Nights When All Seems Lost,” now after working on it for about ten years. As evidenced by my “Stones Of Remembrance,” we have all suffered at least one defeat that we didn’t think we’d recover from until we met the “greatness” of God’s “faithfulness” when we least expected it. I’ve suffered many in my lifetime. As my grandmother always said, “what don’t kill you just keeps making you stronger” the longer you choose to keep strugglin’ to overcome your biggest antagonist.

So why did I choose to “keep risin’ after every fall” and “steppin’ out of the darkness” when nobody, except Jesus, thought I could? Because I learned to trust God while my soul turned in the crucible of Adversity’s refining fire, I knew that nothing could, nor would, ever separate my gifted soul from God’s love, grace, and mercy. Nothing. Nothing and nobody would or could ever make God forsake me or leave to die alone in a valley littered with yet another sun-dried bone. From somewhere deep within the severely wounded heart of my cast down soul, I heard a still, small voice that kept whispering, “Don’t give up” until a peace that surpassed my limited understanding about everything that had ever happened to me inspired my bone tired, weary soul to rise to my feet, shake off the dust of my defeat, and take another step closer to making my biggest dreams come true so I could start achieving great things.

“Love” is the reason why I still feel so compelled to cry while watching, reading, or hearing about all the egregious, horrendous, and horrifying events that are still happening daily to one too many great people like you. Even Jesus Christ and Nehemiah wept. So, I’m not ashamed to let you know that a 225-pound red-blooded man still cares about each and every one of you that much. Matters not the colour of the skin covering your beautiful faces. Matters not how wealthy or poor you may be today since God can change your life in the twinkling of on an eye when you least expect it to happen. God has done it for me too many times in ways I never expected. Since your skin colour, social status, and financial status don’t matter to God, it shouldn’t dictate to whom I choose to link love with unconditionally. Does it matter to you? I hope not.

Can it be that there is a divinely ordained reason why the human race is comprised of many great people like us with great weaknesses like ours who are just as diverse as our personalized spiritual gifts, natural talents, and fingerprints? Hidden inside the pages of the Bible in our hand lies the key that will unlock our God-given ability to wrap our brains around the truth that all the culturally diverse people God created belong to one humongous blended, extended family. Reading 1 Corinthians 12 will enable each of us to teach our peers so they can better understand why God uniquely gifted our divinely designed bodies with an individualized skill-set of spiritual gifts and talents that differ from one person to the next.

Matters not whether you’re a Democrat or a Republican despite what you might have thought after reading yesterday’s message. I don’t hate President George W. Bush. I just don’t like his ways nor do I agree with many of his unwise, partisan political decisions because one too many great people are still dying for nothing. Nevertheless, I choose to love Bush which is why I exercised my free will to give him another push. Can you learn to love somebody you may not like this year? I hope so.

Can it be that the ailing heart of humanity’s global village will keep failing unless and until all the members of the human race can function as one galvanized body of people who agree to cooperate with each other and operate as one emotionally unified body of people? Can it be that the power of God’s love will inspire all our Father’s children to protect each other whenever “one” member of the human race is hurting to keep “all” the members of humanity’s deeply wounded body from hurting?

Can it be that love, not hate, will inspire all the severely wounded members of the human race to emulate the intricate life support systems of a delicate human body after we agree as one to adopt the phrase “All For One And One For All” as our mission statement? Can all the members of our blended, extended family agree as one to “link our love” together and challenge each other not to wait until another one of humanity’s darkest hours occurs when all appears lost and we fear the worst had already happened? I sincerely hope so.

Quick question. Who, or what, is still preventing you from trusting God absent any reservations and beyond the shadow of any doubt you may have about Jesus Christ? If any of our team members are hindering you, don’t be afraid blow the whistle. Matters not if that bully calls you a “Snitch.” Don’t be afraid to flip the script on your antagonist by letting us all stand together as one. Together we can confront that cowardly person for the good of all humanity and stop the violence our own betrayal of silence created for too long and for all the wrong reasons.

So, whenever you choose to leave here today, please ask God to gift you with the inner strength of character needed to challenge yourself to love yourself enough to “keep pushing past the pain” you’re feeling right now. Go ahead. Cry if you have to as you begin to “honestly” deal with the your individualized issues and personalized reasons why all is still not well with your gifted soul in 2007. As we lean on each other’s shoulders and struggle to follow the faithful footsteps of God’s unfailing, “bi-partisan” leadership, just know your dysfunctional family members will always “link our love to your love” absent any conditions.

On day 25 of 2007, please give your teammates a well-deserved “high five” for paying the price to keep their big dreams alive. Despite how many nights you wept in the fetal position, each of you kept getting up and showing up everyday. Because all of you exercised your free will to keep pushing past the pain you felt, you have finally started to dig deep enough to unearth some stuff you hid when you always did what only came easy or felt good.

So, please don’t feel bad because you’re crying in front of your peers. We won’t think less of you matters not how long it may take for God to bless you after you link your love with His. If the truth be finally known, one too many of our self-deceived peers, who honestly believed they could keep lying to themselves while trying to “fake it” until they “make it.” If the truth be finally known, many of our most successful and wealthy peers still share some of the same fears we have about the same unfinished business they still choose not to personally address.

When you finally begin to honestly believe the truth I care enough to share with you about our most gracious and merciful Father, you will achieve great things as your biggest dreams comes true. As we struggle to walk together in peace and work together as one for the good of all God’s children today, please encourage the person standing beside you to take the next step towards achieving their big dreams until we can all achieve great things. Don’t forget to challenge yourself to replace every “bad habit” with a “good habit” for the next 310 days of this “year of firsts.” If necessary, write down the words that have become my screensaver if it helps you to remember them,

“DON’T GIVE UP.”

Besides, if stellar athletes believe they can push past the pain until they can achieve the level of excellence, physical conditioning, and mental toughness all great champions need to succeed, why can’t we try to do the same? “No Pain. No Gain.” Maybe that’s why we pay them millions of dollars to do with excellence what one too many great men, women, and children still “choose not” to do in 2007. “Push Past The Pain.” If somebody like me with great weaknesses like mine can do it, then so can each and everyone one of you with God’s help. Remember, impossible is still nothing to God. God willing, 2007 will be the “first year” great nations of great people stop killing each other for nothing and start developing the inner strength of character needed to keep pushing past the pain until the synergy of our link love finally conquers hate? “No. Struggle. No Strength.” Think about it.

“ALL FOR ONE AND ONE FOR ALL!!”

I don’t know about you but I sure could use some of your link love right about now since we’re going to take a closer look at two extremely controversial and divisive topics of many heated debates, “Race” and “Racism,” from a different perspective tomorrow. God willing, and if the creek don’t rise before the sun gets up and shows up come morning, we’ll address this overgrown modern day Goliath. My wife constantly reminds me that I’m “so country” because of the terminology I inherited from my parent’s families. As country as my wife claims I am. As Dr. Michael Eric Dyson would say, “Holla Back!” if you agree with my Queen.

Quick question before we close. How many of you know the cultural differences between a “scarcity mentality,” an “abundance mentality, and a “slave mentality?” It appears, based upon the massive number of hands and voices that just got raised, that the answer to this thought-provoking question needs to be the topic of another post. Understanding the difference between these two diametrically opposed paradigms will explain why humanity’s global village is still emotionally divided during such competitive and self-deceptive times as these. If you already know the difference between a scarcity mentality and an abundance mentality, then you won’t mind sharing some of your link love with the rest our blended, extended family members today.

One can never get enough of your link love or blog dust anyway since you love inspires me to get up, show up, and take another step towards our common, worthwhile goal. Can it be that our remnant’s “one for all and all for one” attitude will still ring just as true today during such an emotionally explosive and divisive season as this one?Can it be that it’s still true that a chain is only as strong as its weakest link? We’ll see. Until we meet again, may the peace of God be with each of you and your families today.

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