We shouldn't judge what we can't understand

Thankfully, long gone are the days that by not choosing to discuss the 800 pound gorilla that he simply disappears in a puff of smoke. The fact is the spectacle we make of ourselves ignoring him makes him either go and get a buddy to share the entertainment with or go in the other room and rob us blind. In either case the choice to remain unenlightened and ignorant is no longer an option. The laws of our land dictate that ignorance of the law is no excuse to break the law. In the tenants of Christianity, grace allows your innocence until knowledge and conviction prove out.

During the 3 ½  years that Jesus walked the earth in His ministry He chose to keep company with the undesirables in society. He chose thieves, tax collectors, drunkards, fisherman, prostitutes and the vagabonds. There was a strategy to His mission here on earth. In order to lift the consciousness of a building you must engage its foundation. Jesus was able to walk among the dung heap as society would call His ardent followers without being weighed down by their burdensome smell. Yet He was able to teach and astound the aristocracy of society. They were called the Sadducees and the Pharisees.

The misnomer about the Sadducees and the Pharisees is that they were not bad people at all by today’s standards. These people were the Supreme Court justices, the lawyers, doctors and the CEO’s of the time. These people were the top 1% of society. Yet they couldn’t understand why a man would so vigorously pursue breaking and challenging Mosaic Law. The law dictates not working on the Sabbath, yet He healed and preached in the streets and gathered crowds to teach heresy.  The Law dictates that the beggar, the blind and the infirmed be considered invisible and third class citizens; yet He healed them, spoke to them and seemingly empowered them. The Law dictates that all prostitutes and adulterers be stoned to death, yet He did not judge them and told them they were forgiven and sent them on their way.

By today’s standards, Jesus would probably be considered the unshaven trendy liberal, possibly with dread locks and an entourage of society’s and Hollywood’s troublesome elite. You see, this is who He hung with back then. The issue with His disciples is that they represent today’s church. Peter had an attitude problem and was known for being boastful and not able to control his mouth.  Philip was on the fence with most issues and was the average Christian, neither here nor there. They at times seemed hypocritical by the way they fought among themselves. They at times had an agenda that was unlike Christ’s agenda even though they walked beside Him. They also had a tendency of putting money before ministry, like Matthew. Some were like Judas, he was so filled with pride that he preferred to commit suicide rather than repent of his mistakes.

The point of this is to illustrate that although Jesus did have faithful followers like John who was with Him to the very end, He had a dysfunctional group of followers who tried their best to get it right. In spite of their many mistakes and character flaws, Jesus still never judged them. In fact Jesus made it a point to never judge anyone who came to Him and asked for His help and understanding. No where in His ministry did Jesus shun the harlot or the societal freak. Jesus taught that in order to change them you must first win them. No one cares how much you know unless they know how much you care. Our modern day church is so caught up in the fact that we live half the truth that we forget that in order to clean a fish we must first catch a fish. What gives the church the right to screen its clientele? We should take notes from hospitals. A trauma unit does not run down a 21 item questionnaire for every gun shot victim that comes crashing through the door by the EMS. The trauma team’s objective is to stabilize and save a life. They don’t care if the victim is gay, straight, a career politician, gang banger or an embezzling hedge fund manager. In time, the appropriate after care personnel can address the lifestyle of the patient to curtail further incidents like what brought them there.

Jesus didn’t make the prostitute or the leper feel less than. He empowered them through loving-kindness. He freed the prostitute and told her to sin no more. That’s what gave Him the reputation to allow another prostitute to wash His feet with her tears and dry His feet with her hair when the respectable citizen He was visiting didn’t even give Him a proper hello. It is also a fact that Jesus came from the bloodline of a prostitute (Rahab), a murderer and liar (David) and countless other public offenders. Jesus said in the book of Matthew 25:40 “…Verily I say unto you, In as much as ye have done [it] unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done [it] unto me.”

CHRSTIANITY IS A PROCESS, NOT THE DESTINATION.

What the modern day Evangelical Church is missing is the same issue the Sadducees and Pharisees missed. Jesus came to do away with the law. His message isn’t just for the chosen its for the disenfranchised and the apparent dysfunctional. If a man gives His life to Christ and still struggles with smoking and dies the next day; he won’t miss heaven for a pack of cigarettes. If a woman comes to Christ and still struggles with low self esteem and continues to cut her herself, Jesus will not ban her from His presence for defiling His temple.

If a man or woman declares their acceptance for Jesus as their Lord and Savior and they still have homosexual desires God will not turn His back to them. Unlike His church and His disciples, Jesus can separate the sin from the sinner. Christianity is a process that we must all work through, it is not a destination reached. We all reach the final destination when we meet Jesus face to face. The same holds true for the habitual liar, the person who secretly struggles with addiction to pornography, pedophilia and gossip. 

Let’s get the person into the church and let their personal relationship with God dictate how quickly their healing should take place. The body takes different times to heal various wounds. A paper cut takes a couple of days. A second or third degree burn may take years without proper intervention. When Jesus healed the blind man it took two attempts before the complete healing manifested. It didn’t mean that Jesus lost His touch. He was illustrating that some healing is a process.

There were many scriptures that were lost that depicted more of the works and philosophies of Christ. The King James bible is not the complete works of Christ, so therefore we should not assume we have the market cornered on everything that is Christ and His philosophies. God clearly states in Isaiah 55:8 “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways.” Jesus simply means He’s got more bandwidth for tolerating and interpreting spiritual and natural concepts than we do. So why do we pretend to have the last words on anything. The New Testament that Jesus came to teach on doesn’t specifically address masturbation yet many churches preach against it. We as Evangelicals need to do a better job using the scriptures in substantiating our hatred or misgivings or we will further lose credibility in our country. 

When I first became a Christian I too had a great dislike for the homosexual lifestyle. While is high school I did a lot of theater and had a lot of homosexual and lesbian friends, but I quickly dropped them when my new Christian friends told me that God says they were an abomination to Him. As I grew in my knowledge of the word and my relationship with Christ I learned that Christ’s love is all encompassing and was not as rigid and black and white as my new strict church doctrine was teaching. I was able to change my views because of my desire to be more pleasing in the eyes of God.

Our church membership needs to be as passionate about getting out on the sea and doing some fishing for souls on our own, rather than just criticizing the size and the appearance of the fish that the current brings in. We need to be careful that our current sadusaic mindset doesn’t rival the original mindset that crucified Christ to begin with. The Power of Perspective in action here is the discussion of the 800 pound gorilla should not be avoided because of our lack of interest  or inability to distinguish between the context of the matter and the content of our purpose; being Christ like.

 Oh let me guess, all the times your sons told you that they were going over to Tommy’s house to play video games that they never mentioned that His dad was Asian and his mom was Jamaican. Maybe if you heard that his name was Diondre or Osuku you would have at least received fare warning on how to mask your reaction when we finally met.

 So let’s analyze this deeper. In our most recent encounter you’ve spoken to me on the phone as a client or the concerned parent of a child who attends the school you principal. When we finally meet you realize that I am two shades darker than our first black president. The child I parent happens to be my blonde haired and blue eyed step daughter of my new marriage to a Polish American woman. So once again let me guess, you didn’t pick up any cadence in my voice as your new client or this concerned parent that I was black.

 There were no grammatical or linguistical ticks that would so easily clue you in as to my ethnicity or academic prowess. So was it the fact that I was raised in New York among Israeli’s, Italians and East Indians for half my life the determining factor in my racial anonymity? Or was it the fact that I am both a trained actor and Journalist?

 But then again I think we met when we were seated next to each other at a Sports bar watching the World Cup games. While attempting to turn up the volume so that we can hear the official’s rationale behind an obviously bogus ruling, the bartender inadvertently changed the channel and the immigration law and Arizona was being discussed on a news channel. Somebody yells out “Keep it there, that’s my brother-in-law Sam the reporter; this is his first national story.” So we pause for a moment to watch the story as we patiently patronize our beer bud’s request. I remember vividly because this was the day I saw someone die right before my eyes.

 So you leaned over to me and mumbled under your breath saying, “I don’t understand why we can’t just impose marshal law and have all those people thrown onto a freight train and ship ‘em somewhere.” I paused, looked at you and smirked and said “wow, did you just think that up?” You responded by saying, “Nah, I’ve felt this way for quite some time.” I said, “me too.” Then you introduced yourself and I did like wise. I never thought two words could bring sudden death to someone’s affect like Manuel Reyes. I guess all Latin Americans don’t have dark features after all.

 Now that I think of it, I may owe you an apology for coming off a little smug when I saw you last Saturday, do you recall?  I met you at the local tire and lube shop while you were waiting on your oil change and tire rotation. I noticed a tiny leak in your master cylinder on your vintage Ford and came out to the waiting area and called out your name. You came over and I said that your car would be finished shortly but that you should consider replacing this item. I can render a temporary fix but you shouldn’t wait too long. I was disappointed but not surprised when you asked me in a doubtful fashion, if I was certain of this. I said yes. You were slightly embarrassed to admit that you didn’t know the function of a master cylinder and that maybe I should get the manger to confirm my findings.

 Unfortunately for me this occurrence is far too typical especially on weekends. I responded by saying that “I am the manager and that I have been a master mechanic for 23 years; although you’ve been a customer here for over three years I was never your mechanic before. I see you’ve had major mechanical work done to your car before but you’ve never asked to see me.” It was clear that I had upset you. You became adamant about having the work done else where. As you drove off I turned to one of my senior mechanics and said that maybe it was the fact that my hair color and highlights were not to your liking. I later consoled myself with the fact that you didn’t like the color of my nail polish or lip stick either.

 Although your behaviors clearly substantiate a stereotypical label for you, I’ve decided not to do so. Education has taught me that mankind’s nature is to capture, retain and control. I’ll accept our encounters as an opportunity to right this wrong and break these cycles. So I won’t label you but instead I’ll simply consider you as someone I haven’t gotten to know well, yet.

• FATHER, I PROFESS THAT YOU ARE THE ONLY WISE AND TRUE GOD IN MY LIFE. THERE IS NO GOD IN MY LIFE ABOVE YOU.  YOU ARE THE AUTHOR AND FINISHER OF MY FAITH.  LORD, YOU ARE FIRST IN MY LIFE.

• YOU SAID IN ISAIAH 54:17 THAT “NO WEAPON THAT IS FORMED AGAIST ME SHALL PROSPER AND EVERY TONGUE THAT SHALL RISE UP AGAINST ME IN JUDGEMENT,  I SHALL HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO CONDEMN. I DECLARE THAT MY LIFE IS A MIRACULOUS EXPRESSION OF YOUR LOVE, YOUR HEALING, YOUR FORGIVENESS AND LOVINGKINDNESS. I AM YOUR CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT.

• LORD, YOU HAVE MADE ME TO BE INTELLIGENT, CARING, LOVING, FORGIVING, UNDERSTANDING AND MERCIFUL TOWARD OTHERS. AS A RESULT, INTELLIGENCE, CARING, LOVING KINDNESS, FORGIVENESS, UNDERSTANDING AND MERCY WILL ALWAYS BE SHOWN TOWARD ME.

• I DECLARE THAT YOU WILL SURROUND ME WITH YOUR PEACE AND FAVOR. YOU WILL SURROUND ME WITH FRIENDSHIPS AND RELATIONSHIPS THAT MEAN ME WELL AT ALL TIMES.

• YOU SAID IN (PSALMS 91:11) THAT YOU WILL GIVE ANGELS CHARGE OVER ME TO ACCOMPANY, DEFEND AND PRESERVE ME IN ALL MY WAYS AS LONG AS I AM OBEDIENT. IN THE NAME OF JESUS, I INSTRUCT ALL MESSENGER ANGELS TO MOVE ON MY BEHALF BY WAY OF SPEAKING ON MY BEHALF.

•  IN THE NAME OF JESUS I DECLARE THAT THE HOLY SPIRIT WILL EMPLOY ALL ANGELIC HOSTS AND EARTHLY RESOURCES TO GUARANTEE MY SAFE TRAVELS AND MY ABILITY TO ATTAIN AND ACT UPON GOD’S WISDOM, KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING FOR MY LIFE.

• IN THE NAME OF JESUS, THESE ANGELIC HOSTS AND EARTHLY RESOURCES WILL PROTECT AND CAUSE ME AND MY LOVED ONES TO PROSPER SPIRITUALLY, MENTALLY AND PHYSICALLY.

• HOLY SPIRIT, I KNOW YOU WILL BLOCK THE ENEMY AND THOSE AROUND ME WHO ENVY ME AND WISH ME HARM. YOU WILL CAUSE THE ENEMY TO FAIL IN EVERY ATTEMPT TO MANIFEST IN MY LIFE.

• HOLY SPIRIT AS MY COMFORTER I DECLARE THAT YOU ARE THE HEAD OF EVERYTHING I AM AND CAN EVER COMPREHEND.  HOLY SPIRIT GO BEFORE ME IN MY DAILY EXPERIENCES, MY STUDIES. AND TEST TAKING ABILITIES.

• CAUSE MY MIND TO BE FREE FROM DISTRACTIONS OF ANY KIND AND ANY MANIFESTATION OF EVIL AND DISOBEDIENCE. AS A RESULT HOLY SPIRIT, RENEW AND COMPLETELY RESTORE MY THOUGHTS AND MY PERSPECTIVE TO MATCH YOURS. TEACH ME TO SEE THINGS AND PEOPLE THE WAY YOU DO, BECAUSE I LOVE YOU THAT MUCH.

• LORD I DECLARE THAT YOU WILL PROTECT MY HOME, MY FAMILY AND EVERYTHING YOU HAVE GIVEN ME. LORD I DECLARE THAT YOUR FAVOR, GRACE AND MERCY SHALL FOLLOW ME EVERY WHERE I GO NOW AND ALWAYS.

            IN JESUS NAME. AMEN!!!

We all miss the mark

To think, a year ago we celebrated on a regular basis the skills and accomplishments of what we’ve called the world’s greatest golfer in Tiger Woods. But now that we see that he like all of us have feet of clay, we smell blood in the water and with light speed we arrive at the scene of the exposed wound salivating with handkerchiefs and knife and fork prepared to dig our tongues and murderous filled minds to consume the memory of the deity we’ve created. In this struggling economy we should rejoice in the fact that the spectacle of the human predator eclipses that of our million year old oceanic counterpart and it is always free of monetary cost.

Surely Tiger has an addiction and as a result has made grave decisions that can quite possibly change his life and the lives of his wife and children forever. It is also quite clear he like so many has several key character flaws that he must first over come before he can even reap the benefits of so called therapy. Tiger must identify his core beliefs and thought life and truly allow his spiritual connection to his higher God to orchestrate a change for a higher consciousness and destiny. Then and only then does he stand a chance win the trust of anyone, especially his wife and his legacy within his children. Clearly without all the facts and from my vantage point, Tiger’s life has been draped with entitlement and discipline without much need for empathy and accountability.

Our thought life is the most intimate and personal possession we own. Even before we have a spiritual consciousness as children we have our thoughts. If someone steals your wallet and identification, they may be able to assume your identity but they cannot assume your thoughts. Even if you were hit on the head and woke up with amnesia you are still equipped with the privacy of your thoughts. You may not remember who you are but you still can think and form the origin of your next action. Our thoughts are the nucleus of who we are and the epicenter of what we become and our eventual destiny.  We all as well as Tiger must at some point learn to harness our thought life

Now that we’ve heard the result exhaustively let’s pull back from the feast, dab the blood stains from the corners of our mouths with our napkins and walk over to the mirror with a magnifying glass. The search for the flaws in the skin we’re in doesn’t seem nearly as compelling. Self cannibalization suddenly seems less appetizing. We are the freest country on this planet (period). We enjoy opportunities and luxuries that many of us like Tiger will never appreciate until they are challenged or taken away. We hear of roadside bombs and other so called terrorist activities that claim scores of lives and within the time it takes for us to walk to the kitchen our minds are as far away from that news story as the geography that separates us from them.

We all win, only as one people

We enjoy inalienable rights and liberties that were bestowed upon us by our fore leaders and protected by our veterans and fallen warriors to this day. We no longer fear masked militia kicking in our doors under the cloak of night to pillage, rape, murder and abduct our loved ones based on corruption and greed. But on the other hand we are subject to a mindset that is equally as devastating only not as sudden and overt.  As spiritual beings whether we worship God, Allah, Buddha or Brahman or nothing at all we have an innate desire to revere something greater than ourselves. For those who have no God as their focus it may be their social status, their culture or their family.

By the appearance of our top rated television shows and frequently visited web sites our gods are our pop culture, social commentators and our sacred celebrities. All of these wonderful adornments temporarily appease our zest for instant gratification but they do nothing whatsoever relative to the character development of our young nation. When compared to the cultures of the rest of the world our nation is a mere teenager consumed with their own issues without a sense of time or relevance to those who do not readily share their same interests this week. As history books have shown and the new ones will reveal, for the most part we as a nation reach out either in desperation or if there is something on the other side in exchange for our support.

There is so much this great western culture can learn from our human family across the other six continents. Certainly we have angels among us who give billions away because they know that unlike primates our purpose in the human family is to give and not to only take. But what about those among us and others around this planet who continue to give even though they do not have? Giving to these unsung angels are the footsteps that grant them the ability to move through life even though they may never leave their village or town.

The teenagers that we have become have raised up our athletes more than the athletic coaches who developed their skills we esteem so highly. We carry our entertainers on our shoulders while we blindly step on the necks of the teachers, parents and fore runners who paved their pathways to greatness. But when we see dirt beneath the nails of this week’s monarch we quickly throw them to the ground before us and watch as our feet trod them under. We hit the replay button with delight as they quickly become emulsified by the turbines that power the momentum we helped them to create. How noble would it be to honor a teacher or professor at some of these movie and music award shows that taught these icons before we immortalized them.   

Let’s not forget the illogical criteria by which we select our icons; most are actors and actresses. Take a moment to consider that we idolize people who dawn makeup and costuming to pretend for a living. Yet we patronize shows and social networking sites so we can plot their every word and move throughout their day. We eat what they eat and shop where they shop and wear what they wear so that we too, can pretend just like them. But when they are found out to not live what we are pretending together, we then scorn them.

Where are you in this?

This is where harnessing our thought life can quite literally change our destiny as an individual and a nation. There is an axiom that says, “watch your thoughts for they become your words, watch your words for they become your actions, watch your actions for they become your habits, watch your habits for they become your character and watch your character for it becomes your destiny. We have gotten into the habit of putting people in positions of high moral standing regardless of their qualifications. Then when they make a mistake we publicize their character and personal lives like it was a broken campaign promise.

 The mistakes between a man and a woman need to remain between the man and the woman unless they hire a PR firm to conduct a campaign on their behalf. There are doctors, hospitals, pharmaceutical companies and industries that have been found guilty of providing substandard care, drugs and products to patients and customers in exchange for a higher profit margin. Many of these cases have changed and taken lives away from their families tragically and prematurely. Perhaps these perpetrators are the real fodder worthy of a feeding frenzy and a PR campaign to educate our society against. But these stories blow away as quickly as the terrorist murders overseas that we hear in the news. Maybe these are the terrorists in our land.

 There will be more politicians, clergy and entertainers exposed for their secret lives and private indiscretions and as these stories begin to surface let’s employ the lessons of compassion and utilize some simple physics. Instead of succumbing to gravity and allowing our tongues to finish off an individual let’s apply the laws of lift and elevate our thinking by not contributing to the feeding frenzy. If you have ever suffered from a self inflicted wound you would probably agree that it is the worst type of wound. The pain is unfathomable yet somehow suitable. We don’t need further injurious assistance from anyone else.

 You will find that those who participate in the feeding frenzy have the time to do so. Keep your distance from them and guard your words around them. Study them carefully, particularly their mouths and their teeth. The evidence found may be helpful when trying to identify the origin of the wounds they will one day inflict on you.

As for Tiger Woods and his family, say a prayer for them and all who may one day follow. The thoughts and actions you exact toward them are the seeds of reciprocity that may one day harvest in the lives of those you love and touch such as your children.

The Power of Perspective helps us to pull back from our everyday circumstances so that we can see things from everyone’s point of view as quickly as we see our own. This helps us to maintain a more healthy and holistic way of dealing with life and the people around us. How many times have we said to ourselves that, “we want different outcomes from our relationships, job experiences and the way we see and react to people?” The Power of Perspective simply illustrates the age old axiom that says “Watch your thoughts for they become your words, watch your words for they become your actions, watch your actions for they become your character, and watch your character for it becomes your destiny”. So basically, your thoughts control your destiny.

This nine chapter 481 page life skills manual and workbook is as relevant for the high school or college bound student as it is for the adult who has come to the point of realization that they want to re-define their objectives in life or discover their purpose. The Power of Perspective answers the question, “How can I fix my life and get out of my own way in spite of my past and my current state of mind?” The Power of Perspective is written from the vantage point of real lives and their stories and how an epiphany changes their outlook and their life forever. The spiritual approach helps you reconnect with God and enhance your relationship with Him without judgment or shame, but simply through common sense, humor and the two things that connects us all, truth and love.

Called “America ‘s Psychologist as seen on CNN, FOX and NBC,” author and clinical psychologist Dr. Jeffrey Gardere called “The Power of Perspective”, “a common sense book that actually helps you think your way through your circumstances to get the results you need, while providing a whole new outlook on your life with accountability.”

Topics covered in this book are ‘How to raise and repair the relationship with your children’ through every situation”; ‘Enhancing your marriage emotionally, spiritually and sexually’, ‘How to thrive on your job’; ‘A complete mind, body and spiritual health guide’, ‘How to break generational curses’; “How to leave a legacy” and a complete recap and thorough workbook that will serve as your accountability partner.

Author, Sean Cort is a former New York radio and television producer and personality and has over 25 years of interviews that has helped formulate the perspectives included in his book. Sean is an ordained minister, Perspective Coach and motivational speaker who has addressed audiences as large as 75,000 people.

Sean’s full bio as well as excerpts from his book can be viewed on his website, www.thepowerofperspective.net. Sean is a media trained professional who speaks in relevant sound bites and has a myriad of educational story ideas that are both family friendly as well as controversial.

The ‘Power of Perspectives’ paperback edition retails for $24.99 and the hardcover for $36.99. Readers can also go to the website www.thepowerofperspective.net to purchase autographed copies as well as sign up for Sean’s weekly inspirational email called ‘Snack Food for the Soul’. Books can also be purchased via live operator 24/7 by calling 866-909-2665. The Power of Perspective is also available on Amazon.com and BarnesandNoble.com.