Dove Hunter

A man speaks the truth when in the Light. When alone do his actions reflect these simple realities or is he more complex? What is the true conviction of the man that says I love you, but behaves as if love doesn’t exist for anyone? It’s not an easy answer.

Some will say that the choice is removed and that the insanity ensues, but a man, with conviction holds onto it. He is flexible and rigid together. If not? He is feeding the doves and then picking the bones clean.

I am a piece of shit. Simultaneously I am beautiful and perfect. I am not the action. I am the facilitator of the choice. It is complex. I am all those things.

If a friend told me her boyfriend did the things I did what would my advice be to her? My daughter? You don’t need a education to want to protect those you love. Protecting those I encounter from myself? How is this accomplished?

A person need not be perfect and cannot be perfect. In the Light a person is free. The day rises to meet them. After the long night a person seeks the Light. Seeks wisdom.

Wisdom can be described as a fear of God ( Psalms 111: 10 NIV). A wise man knows what they do today will shape tomorrow. What I say to you today will shape how you feel about me tomorrow. Leaning on previous successes is a mistake. We make them, but do we need to align ourselves with the same crumbling mass of our experience? No we can forgive, we can love each other through it.

Everyone has value. Do we act this way? Is the driver cutting you off in traffic a person of value? Is the drug addict a person of value? Inherently the answer is yes, but how do we protect ourselves and love them anyway?

Often enough we don’t. We cast each other as throwaways. It is the culture. It is not what we would say if asked about our convictions, it is the reality of our actions. I pray we all learn to tie our hands together, that we lean on teachings of compassion and love.

I am not what I did yesterday. I am not the deranged man that some may remember. I know that person is waiting to destroy me, that person is standing in the doorway God has opened challenging me through the sickness of my thoughts to ignore the path. Distracting me, hurting the family, the community. Forcing me into debt. Severing my soul ties and tying me to a spiritual death. The only way to defeat the enemy is through the Love of God.

The Love of God, allows us a keen view into how to Love ourselves. Our flesh doesn’t know Love. It resides in us, inside the flesh. The flesh, it is not capable of the eternal life affirming legacy of the Spirit ( Romans 8:6 NIV).The diner owner will die and perhaps the building stands but eventually it returns to dust. The teachings of Gandhi or King still resonate because they are of the spirit, not the flesh. And what of our choices?

There is absolutely no way to un-choose a choice especially when that choice is followed by action. There is no way to turn back the clock. Yesterday is gone and we can’t get a do over or a mulligan… we must live with the consequence and blessing that mistakes promote.

Today I will challenge myself to make sense of how I view the world. The decision is made but through meditative reflection as a matter of routine I can ensure that the man holds onto the teachings (James 1: 22–24). I am a self taught offender. I am a self taught runner. I am in the Light waiting to take your hand and the hands of everyone seeking wisdom. I am your pastor and your greatest encourager. You are my pastor and my greatest teacher. This our evidence of that one true Love and connection. A wisdom seeking person holds on to that. This is the first step toward what is wise.