Maybe it is because of the Easter season but I recall being amazed at the variety of eggs a young lady of my acquaintance once assembled. The variety and uniqueness of each egg was truly intriguing. There were large eggs and small ones, some beautiful, others plain, and still others very colorful. Some of the eggs were hard and cold. Others fragile and intricate. Each egg different from the rest, but each appealing in its own way.
I have often thought how like people those eggs were. We are all children of our Heavenly Father, yet, like the eggs, we are different from one another -- different in size and shape; different in coloring; different in decorativeness and in plainness. Some of them are hard and others soft and fragile. Some people, like some eggs, look alike. I have known of twin children who did not want to be treated the same, rather they wanted to be appreciated for their differences rather than for their sameness.
After all, in the end you have eggs that are cracked, boiled, fried, poached, scrambled and devilled; some even turn into chickens. Now be honest, by the same token, how many people do you know that are half-cracked, fried, hard-boiled, scrambled and devilled? I even know of some who are a little bit chicken; for whatever that proves.
We "hatch" plans and strategies throughout our life times.
Seriously, differences in humans make life interesting. Think how boring an egg collection would be if all the eggs were alike.
There are two important pieces of knowledge that we need to understand and internalize in order to be happy within our selves, or actualized. The first is that we are children -- spiritual children. There is divinity within us. Every person on this earth is a child of God. Every one!
We have been endowed with gifts of the Spirit that make us uniquely who we are. Our challenge is to know our real self and to live lives congruent with the Spirit inside us, giving unconditional love wherever and whenever it is needed.
Because we were conceived as spiritual children, we were given the opportunity to come to earth and be proven, to see if we would “do all things whatsoever the Lord . . . command[ed]” (Abraham 3:25). We are to continue our progress on this earth by being “added upon” (Abraham 3:26). In a word, we were born to succeed through the ultimate giving of ourselves.
One of the aims of the devil is to distract us from being successful in our endeavors. He would have us believe that success is something that it really is not. Satan’s plan is full of half-truths, and he tries to lure us into accepting his counterfeit interpretation of life.
For instance, Satan would have us measure our worth and that of others by the standards of the world. He would have us believe that we should all be cast from the same mold -- we should look alike, act alike, and even think alike to be in style -- to be correct. Consequently we become preoccupied in trying to measure up to the fads and thinking of the day.
We are often more into “political correctness” than “spiritual correctness.” The world would have us believe that our happiness comes from other people’s reactions to us. We use radar-like signals to measure how we look, how we act, and what we think and say. We send out signals, or feelers, to others. These signals bounce back. When others find our actions congruent with their thinking, they send positive signals. We interpret those signals to mean that we are of worth. Our interest in others often depends on the signals we receive rather than on genuine feelings within.
In contrast, gifts of the Spirit, especially charity, are like a gyroscope. They are internal. They are steady and sure amidst the changing fads of the world. As part of our education for eternity, we must seek a principle-centered life. This is a life where the gyroscope -- our real self -- maintains an equilibrium and direction based on eternal truths rather than on the signals generated by others.
I have often thought how like people those eggs were. We are all children of our Heavenly Father, yet, like the eggs, we are different from one another -- different in size and shape; different in coloring; different in decorativeness and in plainness. Some of them are hard and others soft and fragile. Some people, like some eggs, look alike. I have known of twin children who did not want to be treated the same, rather they wanted to be appreciated for their differences rather than for their sameness.
After all, in the end you have eggs that are cracked, boiled, fried, poached, scrambled and devilled; some even turn into chickens. Now be honest, by the same token, how many people do you know that are half-cracked, fried, hard-boiled, scrambled and devilled? I even know of some who are a little bit chicken; for whatever that proves.
We "hatch" plans and strategies throughout our life times.
Seriously, differences in humans make life interesting. Think how boring an egg collection would be if all the eggs were alike.
There are two important pieces of knowledge that we need to understand and internalize in order to be happy within our selves, or actualized. The first is that we are children -- spiritual children. There is divinity within us. Every person on this earth is a child of God. Every one!
We have been endowed with gifts of the Spirit that make us uniquely who we are. Our challenge is to know our real self and to live lives congruent with the Spirit inside us, giving unconditional love wherever and whenever it is needed.
Because we were conceived as spiritual children, we were given the opportunity to come to earth and be proven, to see if we would “do all things whatsoever the Lord . . . command[ed]” (Abraham 3:25). We are to continue our progress on this earth by being “added upon” (Abraham 3:26). In a word, we were born to succeed through the ultimate giving of ourselves.
One of the aims of the devil is to distract us from being successful in our endeavors. He would have us believe that success is something that it really is not. Satan’s plan is full of half-truths, and he tries to lure us into accepting his counterfeit interpretation of life.
For instance, Satan would have us measure our worth and that of others by the standards of the world. He would have us believe that we should all be cast from the same mold -- we should look alike, act alike, and even think alike to be in style -- to be correct. Consequently we become preoccupied in trying to measure up to the fads and thinking of the day.
We are often more into “political correctness” than “spiritual correctness.” The world would have us believe that our happiness comes from other people’s reactions to us. We use radar-like signals to measure how we look, how we act, and what we think and say. We send out signals, or feelers, to others. These signals bounce back. When others find our actions congruent with their thinking, they send positive signals. We interpret those signals to mean that we are of worth. Our interest in others often depends on the signals we receive rather than on genuine feelings within.
In contrast, gifts of the Spirit, especially charity, are like a gyroscope. They are internal. They are steady and sure amidst the changing fads of the world. As part of our education for eternity, we must seek a principle-centered life. This is a life where the gyroscope -- our real self -- maintains an equilibrium and direction based on eternal truths rather than on the signals generated by others.
Knowledge of our inner self lifts us above criticism, above discouragement, above limitations (we all have them) and above failure: “This above all: to thine own self be true” (William Shakespeare, Hamlet, act 1, scene 3, line 78). In conclusion, I say this in the name of Jesus Christ in whom we ideally assimilate. Amen.
A PASSING THOUGHT FOR MY FRIENDS: Never put all of your eggs in one basket.
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