KRANWEST
Posts: 158
Joined: 1/8/2008 Status: offline
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“Dammit to hell! I should have gotten that promotion before Brad! The bastard’s only been here for two-years, and I’ve been busting my ass for this company going on SIX! What gives?” I’d bet decent money that most of us have bore witness to incendiary little tidbits like the feverish rant above, at least once in our lifetimes. That kind of employee disillusionment is so common in the corporate sector that most us just leave it alone…..ignore it, like a fat expired pigeon, rotting away on a Manhattan sidewalk. The poor bastard that gets passed up for the younger, “qualified” candidate usually can’t comprehend the reasoning of his higher-ups…. his “superiors”… perched way above in more desirable bureaucratic vantage- points. Why, according to HIS own words, they’re all just “no good, incompetent fools. Hell, I could run a company better than ten of them!” According to HIS limited perception and discernment, they just “don’t know what they’re doing.” Remind you of something? I’ll tell you, folks: This situation certainly reminds me of a little story from the Old Testament. You know the one about Cain and Abel? Remember how Cain seethed over God’s acceptance of Abel’s “blood-offering”? I’ll bet some of the same things were going inside of Cain’s noodle. “Why, that God character just doesn’t know what the hell he’s doing! Hell, I could run the Cosmos better than that!” Now, most conscientious Christians understand that Cain was mistaken in his shitty attitude and subsequent fratricide. In a similar manner to the Pharisees (who came about much later), Cain felt as if divine favor were his right by birth. His offering may have been birthed from arduous, ass-busting labor, but Abel’s sacrifice was one of blood….of vitality and life. (See the parallel with the Pharisee’s honoring of “Law”, contrasted with Christ’s emphasis on sincerity and feeling?) It seems like a lot of us (these days) think that we’re obligated to certain things: To an easy life, to happiness, to success and a relatively carefree existence. Why, golly-gee……aren’t we entitled to all of those things? Don’t we all deserve “better” in our lives? You see – one of the biggest myths perpetuated by our media, and by popular, best-selling “spiritual” self-help digests, is that all of us “deserve” better – that we’re obligated to it, by the mere coincidence that we happen to be ALIVE! Let’s get the Bible’s take on this kind of delusional thinking: “And think not to say within yourselves, “We have Abraham to our father; for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham” Matthew 3:9 Hmmm. The Pharisees thought they deserved salvation and grace based on “birth-right”. How wrong they were, Ladies and Gentlemen. Tsk, tsk: Orthodox Jews with a huge chip on their shoulders. So, in conclusion, the next time that you find yourself angered at a missed opportunity……one that you KNOW you absolutely deserved……put away that rage, and think about the (bad) examples of Cain and the Pharisees. Be happy that God possessed the ever-loving mercy to send his only Son, so that yours would be the Kingdom of Heaven.
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Formerly known as TreSwank
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